2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference 1 Living in the Gap: Recovering from an ERP Implementation Patricia G. DeWalt Joan L. Flessner-Filzen Glenn E. Pence Copyright Patricia G. DeWalt, Joan L. Flessner-Filzen, and Glenn E. Pence, This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors.

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference2 The ERP Bandwagon… “The typical scenario of the roll-out, whereby all sites are asked to implement the common template within a common timeframe, may be appealing to managers in head offices, but it is actually a nightmare for local managers.” Fergal Carton & Frederic Adam, Analysing the Impact of Enterprise Resource Planning in Multi-National Companies

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference3 Session Outline Overview: the ERP project at the University of Illinois Assessment: impact on the IT division of UIUC’s Office of Admissions and Records Strategies: what worked—and what didn’t

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference4 ERP at Illinois Illinois: the largest university to implement Sungard’s SCT Banner product 5-year, 3-campus project administered by University-level IT team (ends June 2005) Fixed timelines and budgets Parallel development of new data warehouse

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference5 About the Office of Admissions and Records (OAR)… Approximately 110 FTE who are collectively responsible for:  Undergraduate recruiting and admissions  Graduate and professional (Law, Veterinary Medicine) admissions processing  Records and registration services (Registrar’s office) Organizational niche: Provost’s Office

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference6 About OAR’s IT Division… FTE organized into 3 areas  IT Administration (2 FTE)  Network and Computing Support (4.25 FTE) Help Desk; network management; tech training; hardware/software purchasing & installation  Application Development (6 FTE) Data services/reporting; Banner support; web development/maintenance; security

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference7 Staffing for the ERP Project Project staff: experienced University personnel & new hires  OAR identified staff to work on the Project; “backfill” dollars were provided to hire temporary personnel.  OAR’s participants: mostly functional managers

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference8 OAR’s IT Participants on the Project Recruiting & admissions phase  Assoc Dir (100% for 6 months, ending 8/01)  Sys Engr (100% for 7 months, ending 9/01)  Sys Engr (100% for 18 months, ending 8/02)  Tech Trainer (100% for 6 months) Records & registration phase: none

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference9 Other Factors that Affected the Department during the Implementation Deep budget cuts, beginning FY02. The mandate: reduce administrative expenditures by 25% over a three-year period Four department heads between Spring 2002 and Spring 2005

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference10 Other Factors (cont.) New student system – new warehouse Lack of clarity about University-level plans for long-term management of Banner Mixed signals about what OAR’s post- Project role would be with regard to system maintenance

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference 11 The Impact of the Project on OAR’s IT Division Network & Computing Support

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference12 Network & Computing Support “The Project was a Tsunami. We didn’t know which way or how far to go.” – OAR’s Network Administrator

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference13 NACS: Technical support & training Impact on technical support  No more centralized mainframe printing Needed new high-capacity printers  Hardware performance issues Initial requirement: P90, 32 Mg RAM Increased RAM to 256 Mg Current requirement: P500, 512 Mg RAM Network & Computing Support

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference14 Network & Computing Support Other challenges  No technical training on the new systems  New help desk Customer Relationship Management software  Project-related work diverted resources from critical internal projects Post-project impact  More pressing need for hardware upgrades

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference15 Network & Computing Support Impact on training  Department training function on hold No backfill for our trainer  Challenges with Project training Timing: a little too soon Coordination: not quite enough Content: one size fits all

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference16 Network & Computing Support Post-project impact on training  Ongoing training role? Undetermined  Resistance to training Increased workload = reduced availability Training fatigue

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference 17 The Impact of the Project on OAR’s IT Division Application Development

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference18 Application Development Resolving issues with new workload  Support for letter generation / printing  Understanding table maintenance (technical & organizational issues)  Managing change control processes  Managing web applications “Testing in production”

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference19 Application Development Re-engineering existing workload  Website reorganization and maintenance  Reporting: Managing demands for both legacy and Banner- driven data Reworking / rewriting standard reports – and filling the gaps in Project-delivered reporting (R&A) Mastering new tools

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference20 Application Development Staff Issues  Personnel changes  Stress & workload  Expertise: learning Banner & the warehouse from a tech perspective

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference 21 Strategies – Part 1 What DOESN’T work…

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference22 Keep Expectations High Promise no disruption in services to constituents during the transitional period. Adhere to unattainable standards.

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference23 Rely on “Crisis Thinking” Have no strategic plan in place to deal with worsening budgets and escalating workload. Adopt short-term workarounds without considering the long-term impact.

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference24 Work without a Viable Communication Plan Speak to the Project team with multiple (and perhaps contradictory) voices Make decisions based on incomplete (or inaccurate) information

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference 25 Strategies – Part 2 What DOES work…

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference26 Network! Establish relationships with Project personnel Work proactively with campus IT user groups and peers Establish relationships with colleagues on our sister campuses

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference27 Engage the Entire Department Manage expectations and enhance colleagues’ understanding of the nature of IT work. Four successes:  Leadership of weekly cross-functional meetings  IT managers meet quarterly with functional managers  IT presence on internal website  Open House

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference28 Engage Senior Management Measure job satisfaction and workload regularly and report those findings. Evaluate the effectiveness of IT services– and identify obstacles that stand in the way of improvement.

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference29 Maximize Communication with IT Staff Hold daily status meetings with staff Communicate between the IT units Retreat!  Strategize  Take stock of accomplishments Regroup and reorganize (see supplemental info)supplemental info Communicate realistic workload expectations

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference30 Take Charge! Seek to take ownership of processes to the fullest extent possible. Learn how to navigate the political landscape.

2005 Educause Midwest Regional Conference 31 Living in the Gap: Recovering from an ERP Implementation Patricia G. DeWalt Joan L. Flessner-Filzen Glenn E. Pence