IS Applications Planning 17/18 to 19/20
Overview of IS Applications IT Planning 2017/18 to 2019/20
The planning for 2017 – 20 is now under way. For 2017-20 the resources allocated to IS Applications through core University funding (flat cash) will only allow us to work on compliance projects.
The purpose of the planning process this year is therefore to enable us to prioritise the use of our centrally funded resources for essential compliance work and to make appropriate resource provision for work that is to be directly funded by our business partners.
Through the 2017-20 planning process we will:
- Confirm the IT systems compliance needs of the University and review progress on previously committed work
- Identify work potentially required within the ring-fenced resources allocated to the Colleges and to the Student Systems Partnership
- Identify IT and business change work that will be funded directly by project sponsors
Impact of Service Excellence and Digital Transformation
This year the IT planning process takes place alongside major University IT and business change initiatives in Service Excellence and Digital Transformation. It is possible that some proposals submitted though the IT planning process will overlap with work being done through these initiatives. This is particularly likely for proposals impacting on the four main Service Excellence areas of:
- Student Administration
- HR Transformation
- Student Recruitment and Admissions
- Finance Transformation
Where your proposal is in one of these areas, or may otherwise be considered as a digital transformation, we strongly recommend that you consult directly with the relevant initiative owner before submitting your proposal.
Service Excellence |
Barry Neilson E: Barry.Neilson@ed.ac.uk T: 0131 650 9160 |
Digital Transformation |
Simon Marsden E: Simon.Marsden@ed.ac.uk T: 0131 650 2100 |
Developing the Plan for 2017 – 20
Compliance |
IT compliance requirements should be submitted through the IT planning process. IS Applications will work closely with business partners to confirm and submit IT compliance requirements. Although IS will take on genuine compliance work at any time there is less risk if we are advised in advance and can plan compliance work accordingly. |
Sponsor Funded | IT and business change work that will be funded directly by project sponsors should be submitted through the planning process. Although we will take on sponsor funded work at any time advance notice through the IT planning process enables us to ensure we have the right resources in place when you are ready to start. |
Projects Rolled Over From Previous Years | All open projects that are currently scheduled to roll over into future years will automatically be included in the new plan. Not started projects included in Year 2 (2017/18) and Year 3 (2018/19) of the previous plan will not be included automatically and should be updated and re-submitted. You can view these projects in the previous plan here. |
Although new discretionary IT and business change work is beyond the capacity of our core centrally funded resources allocated to IS Applications please contact us even if your funding is not yet secured - and our input is essential before any project requiring IT or ISG staff input can be approved.
For all your proposals, regardless of funding status, our staff will help you:
- Develop credible proposals that can be successfully delivered through project activity
- Ensure that your proposals are costed accurately and that the benefits are identified and realistically valued
- Identify whether your needs can be met by existing IT based services or solutions
- Advise you on how your needs may be met by new or emerging technology solutions
- Leverage our connections across campus to help you socialise and gain stakeholder support for your proposal
- Identify additional funding opportunities including Service Excellence and Digital Transformation
- Develop "shovel ready" proposals that can be submitted to College and Support Group planning processes, Knowledge Strategy Committee or other funders
The following templates are required as inputs to the IT planning process:
Please note that the new "Blended Day Rate" for professional services across IS for 2017/18 will be £320/day for the majority of our services. This rate should be used for all UoE staff costs included in proposals.
The first deadline for draft proposals is 14th November 2016 - you can view the timeline for this year’s planning process here:
April 2017 - IS Applications Plan 2017-2020 Version 1
Following completion of our initial draft plan in December 2016 we noted a significant growth (>40% above our budget estimate) in the required compliance effort for 2017/18. Rather than publish the draft plan at that time we instead took the following actions:
- Carried out a review of proposals to ensure that we are only including genuine compliance work
- Held discussions with the CIO to secure the funds required to deliver the additional compliance
- Reviewed our IT applications landscape to identify ways in which we could reduce future compliance costs
Our review of the compliance proposals removed some work but did not materially reduce the overall estimate. Our analysis identified that the remaining compliance work is necessary and that, without further intervention, the compliance burden is likely to increase in future years as we face:
- New and more stringent data protection legislation
- Increasing cyber threats and the need to move faster with upgrades
- Growth in the size of our applications portfolio with more complex integration requirements
Due to these factors it is increasingly important that we take every opportunity to rationalise our applications portfolio and adopt more flexible technology solutions with enable faster testing and implementation of upgrades. These aims are implicit objectives of current major University initiatives including Core System, Digital Transformation and Service Excellence. Unfortunately we are unlikely to realise the full benefits of these initiatives in terms of a reduction in compliance costs during the period covered by the 2017-20 plan.
Following discussions with the CIO we have made now made provision for the additional compliance costs in the 2017/2020 ISG Plan. Whilst the final outcomes of the planning process are not yet known we are confident that we will now be in position to meet the compliance needs identified for 2017/18. We are therefore now able share and commit to the estimated compliance work (5965 Days) identified in the IS Applications Plan for 2017-20 Version 1.
In the next version of the plan, expected in June 2017, we will add sponsor funded projects based on the outcomes from 2017/10 University Planning and Budgeting. These projects will include those associated with Core Systems, Digital Transformation and Service Excellence as well and individual sponsor funded work from the Colleges and Support Groups.
Contacts
At the College and Support Group level the key contacts within Applications Division are:
Colleges |
Muriel Mewissen E: Muriel.Mewissen@ed.ac.uk T: 0131 651 4195 |
Corporate Services |
Nikki Stuart E: Nikki.Stuart@ed.ac.uk T: 0131 651 4541 |
Information Services |
Adam Wadee E: Adam.Wadee@ed.ac.uk T: 0131 650 9689 |
University Secretary's Group |
Sheila Fraser E: Sheila.Fraser@ed.ac.uk T: 0131 650 7164 |