Plan

Summary

Since August of 1996 the University has been conducting a review of existing information systems, projects, and corporate I.S. needs with the view that we must, in very short order, establish a workable, and manageable plan that will allow us to achieve the University's IST supported business objectives for the spring of 1999.

This summary plan is the result of that work and will serve as the first draft of an information systems planning framework that can be managed with available human and financial resources and yet is flexible enough that it can adapt, when necessary, to the changing business demands of the University. More detailed information related to each specific area can be found at their respective web pages (see below).

Student and Related Systems

In order to address the Business 1999 requirements in this area the University has purchased the Student Administration System (SAS) from PeopleSoft Corporation. This is a new system that PeopleSoft has been developing over the last 2 years as part of their software solution suite for the higher education market.

The system will be further evaluated over the next 6 months in parallel with its ongoing development by PeopleSoft.

In addition, the University has begun selective "repair work" on some of the legacy Student and Student-Related Systems. The primary motivations for this are:

Several of our existing systems will fail long before being replaced by the the PeopleSoft application because of an immediate need to track dates beyond the end of 1999.
Ensuring that our existing systems can continue to work must be done as a contingency, should delays or other issues result in the SAS implementation project timelines extending beyond 1999.

This repair work is being done in order of priority related to "first to fail" due to the date problem, and then those applications that are known to either not have a replacement within the PeopleSoft product, or will not be available in a timeline that allows the University to implement the functionality prior to the year 2000.

For additional information regarding these initiatives, please refer to the Student Information Systems Project web page.

Finance and Related Systems

The implementation of the Oracle Financial System in May, 1996 resulted in the replacement of many of the Finance and Finance-Related Systems. Over the course of the next two years, the majority of those applications that remain in the legacy environment will be replaced within the framework of the Financial Systems Project.

Current and upcoming initiatives in this area include the selection and implementation of a decision support system, year-end reporting and processing, implementation of the client/server version of the application, implementation of the Oracle Accounts Receivable module, evaluation and possible implementation of Oracle's Fixed Assets module.

Human Resources, Payroll, and Related Systems

In September, 1996 the University entered into an agreement with PeopleSoft Corp. to acquire their Human Resources and Payroll System. The University's immediate objective is to replace our existing payroll system with as "vanilla" an implementation of PeopleSoft HRMS as possible. This is targetted for January, 1998. Subsequent project activities will focus on extending the functionality and accessibility of the application. This will continue through 1998 and should be completed by December, 1998.

Full details related to project scope, objectives, plans, and progress to-date, can be found at the HRMS Project web site.

Tri-University Library Project

On January 28th, 1997, the Tri-University Libraries and Endeavor Information Systems concluded their negotiations and signed the licensing agreement to purchase the Voyager Library System for the three University Libraries (University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and University of Guelph). This milestone means that we can begin to implement Voyager almost immediately.

Telephone System

In the fall of 1996, IST began an initiative to replace the University's existing telephone switch. The motivation for the project is to reduce telephone maintenance costs by upgrading to new hardware and to replace our telephone switch and handsets so that we may take advantage of current and future changes in telephony.

The project will proceed in three phases. The major components of phase one include the upgrade of to a digital switch along with the replacement of approximately 350 existing phones. Phase one will be completed early in 1997. The focus of phases two and three will be the replacement of all remaining phones on campus. For financial reasons these phases will be tied to the 1997/1998 and 1998/1999 fiscal years.

Further information regarding the telephone switch upgrade can be found at the Telephone Services web page.

Other Client Areas and Information Systems

Health Services - The existing clinic administration system (an application in the VM/VS1 environment) is being replaced with a system acquired from P&P Data Systems. MDS Practice Management Services (Praxis) have been retained to provide project management and implementation support. This initiative should be completed by September, 1997.

School of Optometry - The existing billing system (an application in the PICK environment) is being replaced with a system acquired from P&P Data Systems. This system will also be utilized in many other clinic administration functions for all clnics within the School of Optometry. The initial implementation plans will result in most billing and related administrative functions, as well as support for at least one clinic area, being completed by September, 1997. MDS Practice Management Services (Praxis) have been retained to provide project management and implementation support.

Plant Operations - A new facilities management system (MCS-R5) was acquired and implemented from SQL Systems Ltd. during the spring of 1996. During the coming months Plant Operations plans to continue expanding its use of the application and IST/Plant Operations are investigating adding adhoc query and reporting capabilities as well as integration with Oracle Financials.

Assumptions, Constraints, and Risks

During the life of this plan a great number of issues must be identified and addressed that have the potential to impact the plan in a significant manner. Most of these are known and have been documented within the context of each individual project. The ones that follow are those that could be categorized as being of a general nature (ie. crossing all project boundaries).

	The guiding principles from which this plan evolved, remain as set in the Business 1999 Report.
	As much as possible, only limited, emergency level support will be available for all VM/VS1 and Pick applications. Applications in IST supported areas that are not scheduled for replacement will receive the amount of development support necessary to achieve year 2000 compliance, and address any legislated, or mandated, changes. Information system needs outside of those listed above are not addressed within the context of this plan.
	Timelines in all project areas are exceptionally tight and these must be monitored closely. Any issues arising that could affect timelines must be addressed quickly and effectively.
	Resources in the client areas and IST that are involved in these initiatives are going to be under a great deal of pressure for a number of years. Appropriate measures must be taken to manage the stress that this situation will create as well as manage expectations associated with this major transformation.
	University resources, human and financial, will be limited on these projects. Leveraging both of these by applying the right resources, with the right skills, at the right time, in a cost effective manner, will be a critical success factor in all projects.
	Professional development on an ongoing basis will be a key issue. The introduction of new development environments, and purchased information systems, requires an ongoing commitment to staff training and development on a scale which has never existed at the University. This will require significant ongoing commitment and allocation of staff and money from IST and all client areas.
	Once the requirements of the major projects identified above are met, the next highest priority will be to replace any reminaing VM/VS1 systems before applying resources to other initiatives. This list consists of Key Control, Telephone Services, University Club, Space Utilization, Science Machine Shops, Graphics Services, and Internal Audit.
	Once all existing VM/VS1 applications have been replaced, and all archival/historical information converted, this environment will be removed. Given the timelines of the various major projects, as well as the implications for the remaining applications in this environment, the earliest that this will occur is sometime in 2001.

Business 1999 Plan