Upgrading the Research Management System -...

Project Communications Strategy Research Services Division

Developed by Project Office Information Technology Services

http:/itservices.anu.edu.au/project-management/

Upgrading the Research Management

System

Approval

Business Owner Approved/ Not Approved

Signature Title Date

Douglas Robertson Director, Research Services Division

Author: Nalini Nair, Project Manager, ITS Version: 1.0 Date: 15 October 2013

P R O J E C T C O M M U N I C A T I O N S S T R A T E G Y – U p g r a d i n g t h e R e s e a r c h M a n a g e m e n t S y s t e m

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T H E A U S T R A L I A N N A T I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y

Contents

1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 3

2 Communication Procedure .............................................................................................................. 3

3 Communication Themes ................................................................................................................. 4

3.1 Key Messages ......................................................................................................................... 4

3.2 General Sensitivities ............................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Potential “Good News” Project Events .................................................................................. 10

3.4 Potential “Bad News” Project Events .................................................................................... 10

4 Stakeholders Analysis ................................................................................................................... 11

4.1 Key Stakeholders Groups ..................................................................................................... 11

4.2 Key Stakeholders Orientation ............................................................................................... 13


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1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this document is to describe the communications strategy for the “Upgrading the

Research Management System” project. This communication strategy is part of the broader

organisational change management strategy in place to manage the people side of the

implementation. Communication initiatives will proactively address issues, react to progress and

setbacks and provide a feedback mechanism.

Supporting this strategy will be a revised Business Process Document (BPD) for each existing

module. The BPD will identify key components of the process, focusing on those supported and

contained within the system. Key data fields will be identified, as will the impact on the data quality if

these field are not completed or completed poorly. The BPD will underpin the user manual and

training guides.

1.2 Objectives

a. Create awareness, interest, involvement and understanding of the project, and ensure

perceptions and expectations are managed

b. Ensure and provide visibility of ongoing commitments and support of all relevant entities on

all aspects of the project; and

c. Enable consistency and regularity in the messages that are communicated about the project

to all relevant entities.

d. Ensure all critical issues are identified in BPD to support users with clear governance

including system rules, flexibility and data security, and university policy and procedures.

2 Communication Procedure

The project will adopt the communication processes identified in the “PMO Communication

processes” document available on the ITS Project Management website. The following link will take

you directly to the document.

https://itservices.anu.edu.au/_resources/projects/management/governance/communication-

processes.docx

https://itservices.anu.edu.au/_resources/projects/management/governance/communication-processes.docx

https://itservices.anu.edu.au/_resources/projects/management/governance/communication-processes.docx


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3 Communication Themes

3.1 Key Messages

Audience

Type/ Role

Issue/question Message Key dates

and

dependencies

Chanel and

spoke person

Responsibility

Executives

College

Research

Managers

Every user

group

What is the

ARIES project

about?

Why is this

project

required?

The ARIES project is about upgrading the system to bring

the current framework in alignment with the commercial

product base that is being utilised by other customers.

The ANU system is currently running on an unsupported

framework. This has resulted in the inability to undertake

mainstream enhancements, utilise new or improved

functionality, provide enhanced user experience and comply

with regulatory requirements.

In addition to upgrading the system, this project will bring

about improvements to the existing business processes

around the management, support and quality assurance of

ARIES as an Enterprise System and boost the vendor-client

relationship with an established Vendor Management

Framework.

Additionally, a more rigorous process is required to ensure

that the ARIES system meets the expected quality of an

Enterprise System and that the management and support

for the system is sustainable.

Finalised

timeline

Email

Project

Delegate

Project

Delegate

Executives

College

Research

How does this

project improve

organisation

In addition to upgrading the system, this project will deliver

improvements to the existing business processes around

data entry, business rules management, support and quality

Steering

Committee

approval

Email

Project

Project

Delegate


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Audience

Type/ Role


and

dependencies

Chanel and

spoke person

Responsibility

Managers efficiency? assurance of ARIES as an Enterprise System and boost the

vendor-client relationship with an established Vendor

Management Framework.

The project will deliver an enhancement schedule for

immediate priorities post upgrade and set aside a timeline

for an environmental scan to determine if ARIES is providing

a cost effective solution that aligns with the University’s data

management requirements.

Vendor looked

in for

deployment

dates

Delegate

College

Research

Managers

What outcomes

will this

upgrade and

enhanced

business

processes

deliver?

Will ARIES

integrate with

other enterprise

systems?

A stable, robust, reliable enterprise system on the new

framework.

A manageable system architecture

An efficient process for managing and supporting the

Research Management system

An established rigorous quality assurance process for

any future enhancements or defect fixes to the system

An established service and maintenance agreement

Strong and improved vendor-client relationship

Commercial product base aligned with other customers

A sustainable future state of the application.

Revised Business Process Documentation including

clear governance, system rules, flexibility and data

security, and university policy and procedures.

There is no planned work for the integration of ARIES to

other enterprise systems such as HR or Finance at this

time. However the upgrade will enable future enhancements

that will support the data transfer between ARIES and the

After demo

and once

clarity on

differences

and

outstanding

RITA list items

clarity on

revised

maintenance

agreement

and fess

clarity on

revised BPD

structure

Email

Project

Delegate


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Audience

Type/ Role


and

dependencies

Chanel and

spoke person

Responsibility

data warehouse iMIS.

College

Research

Managers

Every User

Group

How will the

project impact

me?

Users of the system will experience a new user interface

and functionality. A change management and training

process will be undertaken to ensure that the transition to

the new user interface is conducted as seamlessly as

possible.

Newly revised Business Process Documentation (BPD) will

assist users adapt to the changes and lead to greater data

quality in the longer term.

BPD will be drafted by RSD staff in the first instance against

existing reporting activity. The BPD will be taken to College

Research Managers for consultation prior to

implementation.

3 Weeks

before go live

date

Workshop

Nalini and KK

College

Research

Managers

Grants User

Group

Will the project

improve the

search

functionality?

Will the ‘Grants

Module Read

Only

Permission’ be

in this new

build?

The new UI includes search options and functionality that

are not available in the current production environment

which provides a more efficient and flexible way to search

for information in ARIES.

No, however it provides the capability that will allow this

permission in a future release.

Combine in

workshops

above

Workshop


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Audience

Type/ Role


and

dependencies

Chanel and

spoke person

Responsibility

Executives

ARIES

Reference

Group

College

Research

Managers

Every user

group

How can I get

updates on this

project?

The project website contains a lot of information and allows

you to register for project updates via email.

You can also contact the Project Manager on 61255652.

Alternatively, the user representative who will be invited to

be part of the Project Team will update other users on the

project.

Finalised

timeline

Web page

Introductory

Email

Animal

Ethics user

group

Executives

Will the project

be delivered in

time to meet

the new

requirement of

the Australian

Code for the

Care and use

of Animals?

Yes – the intention is to purchase the new Animal Ethics

module provided by the vendor. However, if after the demo

of the product the steering committee is not convinced the

product is suitable, an alternate product will be sourced.

At this time only WA has mandated the changes with a

deadline of January 2014. If necessary an alternate solution

may be put in place as a temporary measure for the 8

existing protocols that are affected by the licence ANU holds

in the state of Western Australia.

Meets

regulatory

requirements

and ANU

business

needs.

Successful

deployment of

528

Workshop for

Animal group

If alternate

solution is

required this

will be

communicated

by DVC(R)

Human

user group

Executives

Will the project

automate the

human ethics

application and

mitigate the

need for 15

The deployment of the upgraded framework will not

eliminate the need for 15 hard copies of each Ethics

application, however, it provides the capability that will allow

for electronic processing of applications in a future release.

Email

Project

Delegate


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Audience

Type/ Role


and

dependencies

Chanel and

spoke person

Responsibility

hard copies?

Publications

users group

Executives

How does the

project change

the Publication

collection

process?

The advanced UI will allow for greater flexibility and

efficiency in publication collection as a result of improved

functionality. There are no major changes to the functionality

of the publications module beyond the new UI.

Email

Project

Delegate

Executives

College

Research

Managers

Will

standardised

reports be

available to

monitor

progress

against

University

KPI’s?

Will the grade

fix the ARIES

iMIS interface?

There are no major changes to the reporting engine within

ARIES. For comprehensive standardised reporting on data

held in ARIES, HR and/or Finance the iMIS data warehouse

has a suite of standardised reports suitable for many needs.

Additionally, RSD can provide ad-hoc reports on data held

in ARIES for cases where iMIS does not meet user

requirements.

The upgraded framework will not change the iMIS interface.

Email

Project

Delegate

College

Research

Managers

Executives

Is ANU looking

at replacing

ARIES? If so,

when will that

happen?

The ANU is planning to complete an environmental scan

over the next 12months. This will help inform any decisions

made about the suitability of ARIES as the Enterprise

Research Management System for ANU.

More information will be available on this in 2014.

Successful

deployment of

528

Email

Project

Delegate


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3.2 General Sensitivities

The ARIES product was purchased in 2004, and rolled out to users at a time of significant devolution.

Research Management tasks and responsibilities moved from the central service division to the local

schools. At this stage colleges had not been implemented. The rollout plan implemented at the time

did not account for the differences in work practices and general resources and capability levels

available to the individual business units. The business rules surrounding data entry and therefore

data quality were excessively flexible. The result has been major inconsistencies in data entry

between users, poor data quality and reporting capability.

Since 2004 minor upgrades and patches have been undertaken, as well as several major upgrades

(Publications module (2006), Animal Ethics module (2006) Human Ethics module (2007)). Despite

RSD recording defects and change requests the vendor has not been able to deliver these in a

reasonable timeframe, or at all and this has led to "user fatigue" in relation to ARIES.

3.3 Challenges to the User Adoption of the Upgraded System

CHALLENGES COMMUNICATIONS RESPONSE(S)

The project timeline has been established to fit around major grant, publication and Office of Research Integrity deadlines. The timeline is tight which, could impact the breadth of consultation and quality of outputs

Poor consultation is the primary challenge to the user adoption of the upgraded system

Directly share with stakeholders the project timelines and explain the constraints the Project Team is working under, as well as communicating the timeline on the Project Team website and project newsletter

Schedule workshops per user group, run multiple workshops where required.

Tailor consultation processes where possible to ensure stakeholders have an opportunity to engage i.e. where there is only a short period to provide feedback, proactively engage with the stakeholder rather than waiting for a response

Record feedback and responses on the project website. Potential stakeholder confusion about the Project approach, scope regarding short and longer tem solutions

Clear and agreed messages about the project and key decisions communicated both formally and informally

Publish and distribute a simple fact sheet/chart which illustrates the project approach and nominated solution as well as opportunities to provide input

Reiterate the approach at any consultation forum

Key opportunities for input and decisions advised via monthly newsletters and Project Team website


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Potential stakeholder dissatisfaction about the opportunities to provide communication input and influence the way they are communicated

Clear and agreed key messages about the project and opportunities to provide input and feedback

Development of a simple fact sheet/chart which illustrates the process and opportunities to provide input

Reiterate the project process at any consultation forum

Ensure that all input by stakeholders is appropriately addressed in a timely manner and recorded on the web page

Potential anxiety among staff about the change

Consistent, regular message to all staff

Development of a Change Management Plan in close consultation with current College RM and the Chairs of each Ethics Committee

Managing staff expectations about the software capability

Clear consultation during the development of the Business Process Documentation

Clear and agreed messages about the project and functional design elements communicated both formally and informally

Strong leadership by the Project Executive and Project Team members

Lack of stakeholder buy in for the proposed solution

Strong stakeholder engagement and communication processes to ensure stakeholders are involved in the project

Clearly demonstrate the advantages and efficiencies the project will deliver in both short and long term

Clearly articulate the ‘big picture’ goal and that the

project is working for and the benefits of a best‐practice approach

3.4 Potential “Good News” Project Events

EVENT AUDIENCE Type/ Role SUGGESTED APPROACH AND MESSAGES

Achieved milestones Stakeholders Provide an email to inform of achieved milestones

Live Demo of animal ethic module

Stakeholders, Committee members

Email invites to attend demo. Evaluation survey after demo.

Launch of Business Rules Stakeholders Research Management Forum/email

Demo of User interface RSD Staff Email invites to attend demo.

Demo of ERA solution TBC

Enhancement plan TBC

Environmental scan TBC

3.5 Potential “Bad News” Project Events

EVENT AUDIENCE SUGGESTED APPROACH AND MESSAGES

Significant shift in the product delivery date

Stakeholders Schedule an unplanned meeting with key stakeholders to provide reason for the delay


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EVENT AUDIENCE SUGGESTED APPROACH AND MESSAGES

Expected features delayed or unavailable

Stakeholders Schedule meeting with stakeholders to advice of the delay, seek alternative solutions.

4 Stakeholders Analysis

4.1 Key Stakeholders Groups

Executive

STAKEHOLDER TITLE & AREA ROLE/ Audience type MESSAGE TYPE

Prof Margaret Harding

Deputy Vice- Chancellor (Research)

Project Sponsor, Executive

Key Players – need strong buy-in

Peter Nikoletatos Chief Information Officer Senior Supplier of Technology; Executive


John Parry Associate Director, Enterprise Systems & Project Delivery, Information Technology Services

Steering Committee; Project Oversight &

Governance;

Executive

Active Consultation

Douglas Robertson

Director, Research Services Division

Chair, Steering Committee; Project

Oversight & Governance

Executive

Active Consultation

Kathrin Kulhanek Deputy Director, Research Services Division

Steering Committee; Project Delegate; Project

Oversight & Governance

Executive

Active Consultation

Paul Wong Director, Office of Research Excellence, Research Services Division

Subject Matter Expert; Advisory

Active Consultation

Senior Management Group distribution list

ANU Senior Management Executive Information & Awareness

Service Divisions Directors

ANU Senior Management Executive Information & Awareness

College General Manager

All Colleges Executive Key Players – need strong buy-in

College Research Committee distribution list

All Colleges Academic Reference Group


University Research Committee distribution list

All Colleges Executive Academic Reference Group



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Users

STAKEHOLDER TITLE & AREA ROLE/ Audience Type MESSAGE TYPE

College Research Managers

All Colleges Executive


Grants admin user group

All Colleges Professional Staff User Group


Grants academic user group



Human Ethics module user group



Animal Ethics module user group



rDNA Ethics module user group



Publications user Group



Project Team

STAKEHOLDER TITLE & AREA ROLE MESSAGE TYPE

Nalini Nair Team Lead, BA & TA, Enterprise Systems & Project Delivery, Information Technology Services

ITS Project Manager; ITS

Senior Business Analyst Active Consultation

Harry Nott Senior Business/Systems Analyst, Office of Research Excellence, Research Services Division

Application Oversight Active Consultation

Dave Pullen ERA Project Officer, Office of Research Excellence, Research Services Division

RSD Test Analyst Active Consultation

Mounika Paka Test Analyst, Enterprise Systems & Project Delivery, Information Technology Services

ITS Test Analyst Active Consultation

Nick Walsh (User Representative)

Deputy Manager, College Research Office, ANU College of Asia & the Pacific

User Experience & Source

of Information Active Consultation

Todd Melville University Office Vendor; Product Delivery Active Consultation

Peter Mackie University Office Developer; Product Development

Active Consultation


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4.2 Key Stakeholders Orientation

Stakeholder group Overall Support Rating

Interest and \ or

concerns

Positive Engagement

Strategy

Method of Communication Frequency Feedback

Project Sponsor L Executive (SMG, Service Division Directors and College GMs)

M

Senior Supplier of Technology

L

Steering Committee Executive

M

Project Oversight &

Governance

M

Project Delegate L Subject Matter Expert;

L

Academic Reference Group

L

College Research Managers

M

Grants admin user group

H

Grants academic user group

M

Human Ethics module user group

H

Animal Ethics module user group

H

rDNA Ethics module user group

H

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