Navigating the Banner 9 Upgrade Decision
By Joe Redwine
In light of Ellucian's recent announcement that the company will cease support for Banner 8 on December 31, 2018, Banner institutions across the nation are facing the challenge of how to leverage the upgrade investment as many cannot cut over to a new system by the end of 2018. CampusWorks is helping colleges and universities make the most of the upgrade requirement by standardizing business processes, diminishing customizations, and improving data quality. Addressing these issues now will position your institution for a move to the cloud when you’re ready.
Whether you’re a Banner client with a requirement to upgrade or an institution looking for a new administrative system, our experience has shown us that successful institutions are those who view these transitions not as an "IT project," but as an opportunity to create momentum, strengthen the technology environment, drive business process improvements, and deliver a better student experience.
Know where you are and where you want to be.
As with many projects, success begins with preparation. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of your current Banner environment and the technology infrastructure supporting it will help you determine the best path forward by illuminating variables that will impact the project’s cost and timeline. Conducting a technology assessment at the outset will give you a holistic view of the current state of IT at your institution, arming your team with actionable information that will be useful throughout this process and beyond. It will answer important questions, like:
- How many customizations exist within the current Banner environment? Which of these customizations are actively used?
- What is the institution’s desired future state? Where do functionality gaps exist?
- Is the institution’s current hardware and surrounding infrastructure capable of supporting Banner 9? Which components need to be upgraded or replaced?
- What are the college’s strategic goals as they pertain to cloud and mobile?
- Are there impediments or vulnerabilities that could impede success?
- Does the college have the technical expertise on staff to support an upgrade or transition? Is outside help needed?
- Are the institution’s people and processes ready for change?
Avoid a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
In order to get the most value out of your ERP environment, we recommend developing an approach that is tailored to your college’s unique needs and strategic goals. Since your administrative system touches so many areas of the institution, a one-size-fits-all approach may not allow your college to use the system to its fullest potential. Leverage the findings from your technology assessment to create a project plan that includes the following considerations:
- Infrastructure updates – Identify the hardware and software that needs to be updated or replaced in order to strengthen your infrastructure
- Bandwidth – Whether considering cloud offerings or increased mobile access, bandwidth needs to support the increased demand for accessibility
- Business process redesign – Establish which processes need to be redesigned in order to support the institution’s desired future state and get the most value out of your administrative system
- Data migration – Develop a database upgrade plan to ensure that no data is lost during the migration and that the cutover to production is as seamless as possible
- Third-party integrations – Identify the third-party applications that will need to be integrated
- Staff training – Create a training plan to ensure that all stakeholders are comfortable with the system’s new user interface and functionality
- Testing – Develop a testing plan that includes a sandbox environment to familiarize stakeholders with the new environment as well as verification and validation testing before the new system goes live
- Cutover – Create a parallel run, testing phase, and cutover plan to ensure a smooth transition
It’s more than an IT Project.
While upgrading to Banner 9 in 20 months is an ambitious goal, it’s a great opportunity to bring your college community together to redefine technology’s role at your institution and achieve your strategic vision.
CampusWorks is uniquely qualified to help institutions decide whether to upgrade or implement a new administrative system and to guide them through the transition. Our team has extensive experience helping colleges and universities with similar projects, and we employ a knowledgeable, transparent, and collaborative approach that has the added benefit of preparing the user community for the change. Since we have no affiliation with any ERP vendors, colleges and universities trust us to provide the unbiased perspective and leadership necessary to achieve transformational results.
Byline: Joe Redwine is vice president of the client experience at CampusWorks, a strategic partner that transforms higher education institutions by providing an independent perspective and creative solutions to improve operations, reduce costs, and position students for success.