25 Live Meeting Minutes

August 24, 2015 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Participants : Ben Schnoor remotely, Chien Shih, Mahmood Hasan, Jerrick Woo, Deepa Prasad, Linda Koyama

General Steps for the project:
1. It will take one month to 45 days to get board approval.
2. Staging the system:
  1. On premises option-requires VM platform, installation, IT resources for monitoring and upgrades per year
  2. Hosted option-assemble the implementation team
3. Process reengineering: To determine the common way to operate between both colleges. (one to two months)
4. Localization: Configuration of 25 Live to our local environment
5. Pilot Testing (2 iterations)
6. Audit by the vendor for Go Live readiness
7. Go live target, middle of May 2016
Ben warned that it will take longer than a typical R25 upgrade because you need to take into account getting everyone on the same page and mapping out the business processes, which tend to be more complicated with a two college system.
The contract needs to be signed before we can begin, which may impact timeline. Ben can send the contract as soon as we decide if we're gong SaaS or local implementation. Ben's personal recommendation is to go with a SaaS deployment.
Potential concern from the colleges regarding the SaaS option:
1. Data ownership: Instruction and Institutional Research would like to connect to the data real time. CollegeNet provides a hosted webservice API via web browser to query the database securely. They have over 350 hosted customers, some very large institutions that have requested data dumps into their data warehouse that CollegeNet's DBAs have written scripts to accomplish. Chien would like some references for some California colleges that are current hosted customers.
2. Cost: SaaS is more expensive but it's important to keep in mind the IT resources and server savings.
Project Scope
1. Upgrade both Foothill and De-Anza Colleges from R25 to 25 Live, based on the best practice suggested by the vendor. It will involve migration of data from the current set up. Ben recommended to start with the data that exists instead of starting from scratch. We can change the structure; we're not stuck with what we have.
2. Provide Single Sign on to the 25 Live through MyPortal integration (They support Shibboleth).
3. Training both colleges' facility, scheduling, police, special events and ETS staff for the go live of the project. Train the trainer training will be provided during the on-site consultation. Jerrick will find out if the police dept. should be included.
4. Establish common business practices for both colleges to operate the 25
  Live.
5. Establish security and support protocols for the continuity of operation for 25
  Live.
6. (Will remove #6, train both colleges and ETS staff to operate 25 Live since it's already covered above.)
Critical Success Factors (Chien reviewed the draft list of critical success factors)
1. Make decision to host 25 Live or build it on premises. (This needs to be decided before we move on to the contract).
2. Agreement on the project implementation team members, and project schedule. We will draft a team membership list and have the colleges approve it. Page 1 of the implementation check list document lists the typical roles. Ben recommends having a project manager and/or a functional administrator, who can work with both colleges to set up the structure of the data based on a coherent policy for both colleges. At least during implementation, it may be best to have a single person who can look at the implementation from a broader perspective, taking into consideration all the departments that will use it.
3. Both colleges commit resources to the training and operating of 25 Live, and participate in the implementation process.
4. Define common business practices and reach agreement between both colleges.
5. On time delivery of the test and production instances by ETS and CollegeNet vendor.
6. On time completion of the security access setup and single sign on configuration in MyPortal.
7. On time completion of the localization of 25 Live for both colleges' special configuration requirements.
8. On time completion of the scheduled pilot testing and go live preparation works.
9. Public awareness and marketing of 25 Live to public users.
10. Pass the go live preparation check list provided by 25 Live vendor.
11. Go Live on schedule.
12. (Ben felt that the list was quite complete).
Project Milestones (Chien reviewed the tentative project milestones)
1. Secure agreement from both colleges and contract approved by the board by September 30, 2015. Signed contract is enough for CollegeNet to get started; they don't need to wait for the PO.
2. Complete the test and production instance by November 30th (changed from October 30th). Set up on the Banner side already done. Need two inteface, Banner test and R25 test, and Banner PROD and R25 PROD.
3. Complete the user and viewer seats by November 5, 2015. If we choose the hosted option, the viewer seats are created automatically as part of the installation.
4. Attend and complete the configuration courses by November 20, 2015. (May be pushed out depending on the time it takes to sign the contract). There are a few eLearning courses that are recommended and optional on-site consulting and training services. Decide early.
5. Define common business practice by January 29th, 2016 (changed from December 22, 2015). (consultant help needed for implementation planning?).
6. Localization of the 25 Live system to FHDA requirements and configure SSO and MyPortal connectors, create local user accounts , test and review security and access by Feb. 29, 2016.
8. Build and publish event calendar by March 15, 2016. Ben said that typically this happens toward the end of the pilot testing.
9. First round of pilot testing, March 30, 2016. (one week).
10. Second round of pilot testing completed by April 15, 2016.
11. Training and/or eLearning for users completed by May 5, 2016. (possibly contract CollegeNet for another on-site training and audit; should be scheduled early and in advance.) Ben had included two on-site visits in his cost proposal, which is typical for implementation planning that would take place at the beginning (Nov./Dec. timeframe) and another toward the end (April/May).
12. Pass the pre-production final check list by May 16, 2016.
13. System Go Live on May 23, 2016.
Ben feels that the milestones are realistic.
Ben recommended that we set up two Banner interfaces, one going from the test 25 Live instance to our Banner test instance and 25 Live Prod to Banner Prod. Since we are already using R25, the interface configuration is already set up on the Banner side. All data currently in R25 will be transferred to 25 Live
The minutes will be updated and distributed and Chien would like the updated scope, critical success factors and project milestones reviewed by both PMO and BCG to make sure the timeline is doable. Meetings will be scheduled every two weeks and as we get closer, will meet weekly.