VIE Project Management engagement puts Clatsop on the path to transformation!
Clatsop Community College (CCC) engaged a VIE Project Manager to help them coordinate their efforts to implement critical functions of the Rogue/Net ERP System (called SeaNet at CCC) by the July 1 target.
Situation
Over the previous few years, CCC had faced many challenges in managing its information. After evaluation, they decided to implement the Datatel ERP system for schools to improve information tracking and sharing. With the downturn in the economy, the Datatel solution became unaffordable and they decided to go with the RogueNet system built by Rogue Community College. Rogue had agreed to provide some level of project management services but the project was not moving forward.
Critical Issues
CCC was in the process of recruiting a new president and had to leave key positions unfilled to reduce costs. This required staff to work hard just to cover day-to-day tasks and with little momentum or leadership focused on the new system implementation. Few people had a sense of what steps were required to get RogueNet up and running, and little was being done to configure or test the new system.
The July 1st go live date corresponded to the beginning of the new fiscal and academic year – delay would have made it necessary to use both the old and new systems for at least a year, and support for the old system was scheduled to end in the fall.
Implementation of Financial Aid processes had begun in RogueNet, but without a schedule for completion of critical tasks award letters were significantly delayed. Though the overall project had been active for eight months, the original timeline was months behind schedule.
Solution
VIE, working with the CCC staff, provided the following services:
- Development of a milestone plan identifying key project activities and events for twelve weeks, aiming for a successful implementation on July 1.
- Maintaining, tracking, and nudging to resolution a list of more than 100 issues.
- Coordination with the Rogue programming staff to make sure both CCC and Rogue were providing what was needed in a timely way.
- Communication via team meetings, minutes, status reports, phone calls, and individual planning and training sessions with the key players.
- Assistance in defining what was needed to audit data conversions.
- Helping CCC to identify what functions could be implemented after the official go-live thus reducing the stress and effort needed for the cutover.
Results
Over three months, the VIE Project Manager assessed the key issues facing Clatsop and guided them through the critical tasks to complete a July 1 go live; assisted with testing, training, and documentation; and provided expertise to use the remaining time to go live as efficiently as possible. The go-live was successful with no serious issues and freshman registration online was very well received.
As Greg Riehl Director of IS at CCC said recently, “We would not be at this point, had it not been for VIE”.