Closure Report
Project Summary
This project was set up to implement a new subject coding system - the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) - as a replacememnt for the Joint Academic Coding System(JACS) currently used for the HESA statutory returns.
This project had 2 objectives, both fully delivered:
Objectives |
Deliverables |
Benefits |
Success Criteria |
Priority |
Delivered? |
|
O1-Complete conversion to HECoS |
D1-Agree recoding structure for programme and subject codes D2-Convert all JACS codes in the student record incl programmes with missing codes |
Support the production of the return Valid codes for use across student systems |
|
MUST
|
D1- Yes D2- Yes** |
|
O2-Update processes, reports and downstream feeds where JACS codes are currently used |
Implement system changes D3-in the student record, D4- in the reporting BI universes, D5 -in the downstream feeds and D6 - in the ‘IS programme’ used to produce the current statutory return |
Support the production of the HESA return Service continuity once conversion made |
|
MUST |
D3- Yes D4- Yes D5- Yes D6- Yes |
**in the end we only converted JACS codes to HECoS codes on programmes that were still active in 2019/0, and JACS codes have been retained on historic programmes. This does not impact any areas of business adversely though.
Analysis of Resource Usage:
Staff Usage Estimate: 90 days (IS Apps: Developer, PM, Apps Man, Dev Tech)
Staff Usage Actual: 52 days
Other Resource Estimate: BA and tester from SSP not estimated at planning
Other Resource Actual: BA and tester from SSP: 66 days
Other Resource noted but not recorded: Effort from student systems Student Analytics and Insights team (business lead and resource to help with the code conversion and BI testing)
The go live milestone was achieved on 14th May. The delay from the original plan ( was 5th Feb) is explained by a number of reasons:
- Dev resource availability as a result of two industrial actions,
- PM conflicted on P&M work,
- Dependency on the SITS upgrade to be completed as a pre-requisite. The upgrade was delayed to 28 Apr (was 8 Mar )
- Dependency- Delay in getting a software update from Tribal the vendor, pre-required to implement some of the changes
Outcome Key Learning Points
What went well
- Collaborative effort across several teams from SSP, IS Apps and Cucciculum Return/BI team, especially as new ways of working were being implemented as a result of Covid19. Excellent co-operation amongst resources involved in the testing and any subsequent changes.
- Communication on Teams
- Management of the external dependencies
What did not go so well
- Timescales changed due to higher priority projects needing the BA. It caused more work in the end as the Business and SSP side had to keep thinking their way back into what had already been done. However we did deliver on time.
-
It wasn’t just a conversion of codes, but also a recoding exercise. As there was conflict in securing Subject Matter Expert's time during analysis and preparation of the import files, this resulted in re-working of some of the data and subsequent re-checking of files. Data was converted in the Test environment in January, but further testing carried out in the few weeks prior to Live implementation resulted in last minute data changes.
Lessons learned
n/a
Outstanding Issues
They will be addressed by the Curriculum Return team in student systems:
-There a few data issues regarding incorrect cost centers identified during the returns being run in the HESA 'kit'
-For deliverables 4 (BIS universes) & 6 (IS program): I've raised Unidesk I200616-0256 to investigate compatibility errors that have appeared in one key BIS report since implementation. While we've still to identify the cause of the report error there's a good chance it's related to the data model changes we made.