Nearly 40 individuals affiliated with the iNtegrate 2 Project gathered last week for a three-day planning meeting to assess what we learned from the Project’s recently concluded Prototype 1 (P1) testing and to recommend how we proceed to ensure a successful implementation in an appropriate time frame.
The meeting included participation by a cross-section of representatives from our campuses, the NSHE System Administration Office, the iNtegrate 2 Project Core Team, implementation consultant Sierra-Cedar Inc. (SCI) and Workday. The recent conclusion of P1 Unit Testing provided a natural point at which to evaluate the project.
iNtegrate 2 was championed by NSHE Chancellor Dan Klaich and the Board of Regents. The Project’s goal is to implement standardized best practices in business and administrative transactions across NSHE and reduce unnecessary duplication of back office functions, while ensuring consistent and effective operating policies. Workday, which works with some of the country’s leading universities and colleges, was selected as the next-generation technology that will enable NSHE to achieve these goals and operate as a truly integrated system of higher education.
The planning session included:
- Evaluations of where we’re at in the development of our Workday configuration and the standardization of our Business Processes, which are its foundation.
- Challenges we’ve encountered as we’ve worked to convert data supplied by our campuses, and validated it to be accurate, complete and consistent, so that it operates properly in our single, unified system.
- Discussions about the timeline, issues and risks we’ve experienced, along with the resources we need to successfully complete the Project.
- Discussions about project communications and training.
Reviewing Progress to Plan Path Forward
“We need to learn from where we’ve been and apply what we have done well while adapting to avoid pitfalls we have experienced to date,” Project Director Pete Zipkin told the group at the beginning of the meeting. “We acknowledge that we can and need to improve. We’re working closely with the campuses, and they’re providing critical feedback that will help ensure the Project’s success.”
Workday Project Sponsor Chad Craig stressed that P1 did exactly what it was designed to do. “We definitely need to do more planning and we need to make changes to accommodate what was discovered, but I want to emphasize how successful your P1 build and testing was,” he told participants. “You found the configuration gaps and errors, and the incorrect data, and uncovered where your conversions were incomplete. All of this enables us to move forward to finish configuration and conversions, improve our detailed plan and enhance the conversion data quality and configuration.”
Updating Current Plan and Timetable
Following the meeting, the Executive Steering Committee met Monday with project leadership from NSHE, Workday and SCI. After additional input from that group and the Campus Executives Committee, a final analysis will go to Chancellor Klaich and the Board of Regents for review and decisions that will pave the way for a high-quality Workday implementation.