Overview

Background

Archibus is the Estates Department’s Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system. Archibus has been utilised by the Estates Department for over two decades and has been upgraded and maintained in that time in partnership with the reseller Mass Systems Plc (Mass). 

Over time there has been increased customization of the software including the co-developed reporting tool EBIS. The customisation however, has become increasingly complex to both understand and support due to the legacy issues, technology changes and the sheer number of customized elements.  

Following the last upgrade to Archibus V23.1 it was concluded that minimal future upgrades should be undertaken, due to cost of upgrades and the risk to Estates business given the criticality of Archibus to Estates operations. Instead, the expectation was that a full replacement of the system would be carried out via a procurement process starting in August 2020 and completing in 2023. The new CAFM solution procured via this route would replace the aging system and architecture. Due to a variety of reasons, including the impact of Covid-19 and the priority of People & Money, it was necessary to delay this procurement until at least August 2023.  

During this time, the vendor has released new versions of the software, to the point that the Archibus V23.1 is no longer supported. This results in Estates being on a ‘best endeavors’ arrangement with the reseller Mass to maintain the system. Archibus is currently at V26.4 and will be on version 2022.03 in late 2023. The release model now also includes one major and two minor releases a year and a process of deprecating older technology to enable migration towards SaaS delivery. This approach makes Estates and the University even more exposed to technology failure if we remain on V23.1.  

Based on work already undertaken by the Estates Systems Partnership Team between IS and Estates, there was examination and consensus that the Estates Department must upgrade Archibus to the optimum current version which will provide two things: 

1. Ensure that Estates are continuing to use a system that includes the requisite levels of support from the vendor. 

2. Removes as much of the customization as is possible, and thus provides the necessary capability to continue to upgrade the software without it being a major cost or risk to Estate operations. 

Given the complications involved in the upgrade, this project is therefore a detailed planning and investigation piece of work which will provide the necessary information to then feed into the actual project to upgrade Archibus and will help mitigate uncertainties associated with that. 

Scope

To undertake investigative work to provide the necessary insights to proceed with upgrading Archibus. It shall include the following: 

• A report and plan highlighting the relevant detail to enable the smooth upgrade of Archibus V23.1 include timings, costs, human resources, versioning, risk profiles, required business process changes and technical considerations. 

• Identification and recommendations for the various customisations including actions to remove and reduce customisations in all areas. It will identify where the necessary replacement functionality may exist in the target version of Archibus. 

• An early demonstration and opportunity to test the capabilities of the target Archibus platform for Estates and ISG stakeholders. 

Out of scope

The actual upgrading of the Archibus system is not in scope and will be follow-up work. 

Objectives and Deliverables

Objectives

To thoroughly understand the impacts including documented knowledge of the potential risks/benefits associated with a commitment to upgrading the Archibus system. 

Deliverables

Benefits

Success Criteria

The following would represent success for this project: 

• A demonstration of the target version of Archibus for Estates and ISG stakeholders. 

• The provision and use of a sandbox environment, supplied by Mass, leading to an evaluation of the latest version of Archibus.

• A review of Archibus target version to self-assess the key changes required in customisations, Estates business processes and technology.  

• A report with recommendations on upgrading which provides Estates with the detail on the following elements; customisations, impacts, technical platforms, database impacts, staff test and support levels, costs and time. 

Project Milestones