Finance and HR in the Cloud. Case Study

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1 Finance and HR in the Cloud Case Study

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3 Case Study Colleges and Projects FE Sussex led project (6 Colleges) Isle of White College Shared Services in Sussex and Surrey Colleges, Cloud computing Finance system in the cloud using Symmetry Cloud Summary These two projects are focused on providing Cloud based Finance and HR Solutions to colleges. FE Sussex s project is a collaborative one involving a Private Cloud supporting 8 Colleges. All Payroll and HR is being put into the Cloud, with a single database supporting 6 colleges. The Isle of Wight s is a single college project using Symmetry, as a specialised Cloud based approach. Key Drivers Software licence costs. Potential of collaboration. Saving money long term. Intended Beneficiaries Staff and students through easier and more effective access to systems. Colleges in terms of greater efficiencies. Impact to date and anticipated Both project s are in the development stages so the benefits are anticipated rather than realised. These benefits are largely associated with easier access by staff and student users to Finance and HR systems, together with a better use of staff time. FE Sussex: We are already experiencing a positive cultural impact with respect to staff. The benefits yet to be realised are that : Staff time will used more efficiently The system will be easier to use for students and to support recruitment There will be less waste in terms an of old paper-based systems which is used by one College. There will be a Self Service System for HR and no paper-based system Isle of Wight College: A Share point site for the Finance system has been created and testing with the beta version of Symmetry Cloud was successful. But until a final version is issued, we will be unable to deploy this site-wide. 3

4 Case Study Supplier engagement experiences FE Sussex has experienced a smooth procurement process for the software and Cloud hosting. The Isle of Wight College has experienced supplier difficulties in delivering a completed product in terms of Cloud hosted software. There have also been challenges with upgrading the band width of the JANET connection. FE Sussex: The tender process was through OJEU. We received excellent support from FE Associates as consultants. The software supplier has been chosen and is being set up and installed. This software is used by the University of Sussex and also Northern Ireland who have used this software for the last 5 years. The Cloud Hosting provider has been selected as the University of London Computer Centre, who we found with assistance from JISC. FE Sussex: Software - specification requirements have been complex as it is a group of 6 Colleges, who have to deal with suppliers when choosing the software, which was complex. When choosing the suppliers the colleges ask them to deal with 5 complex scenarios that may occur and how these would be dealt with. Isle of Wight College: We selected Symmetry Cloud. The main risk has been supplier difficulties in delivering a completed product, which would enable us to complete this project on time. The mitigation has been to continue working with the existing system, until all issues have been resolved. Delays in this project may cause issues with site wide deployment via the intranet, depending upon any changes to the original specification of the software. Symmetry are amending certain areas of functionality, to improve the purchase order and invoice authorisation process. The leased line upgrade was not completed. The availability of bandwidth will be monitored and reserved for this project as required. An additional line will still be required and will be fitted as agreed with JANET. Technical and Security Challenges FE Sussex: The implementation of one data base to replace 6 separate ones is always going to be a challenge. Cohesive and cooperative working is essential. The technical challenge was of connectivity, ensuring all colleges are connected and all data can be transferred satisfactorily. Data processing agreements required extensive legal advice.the on-going need to finalise Data Protection Agreements needs to be flagged as a potential interrupt to activity. Data protection is a problematic area and requires expert specialised legal advice. Isle of Wight College: Due to the unresolved software functionality issues identified with Symmetry, a go-live date with the cloud system has yet to be confirmed. This will be agreed when the issues have been resolved, and implemented in the live system. 4

5 Case Study Change Management experience FE Sussex reports that significant attention has been given to change management through regular meetings between the colleges involved, a large scale training programme and actions to overcome challenges such as cynicism amongst some staff. FE Sussex: It has been the biggest challenge of all! A training programme for 77 users is in progress. The human element is more difficult to solve than any technical problem. Cynicism by staff affected by the new systems introduction. Ensuring watertight agreements and a collaborative atmosphere mitigated the barriers. The following gives an indication of the number of collaborative meetings involved: 17 x Common Standards Board meetings (HR/Payroll and Finance Directors). The purpose of these meetings has been to manage the project, its timeline adherence and performance to plan. 3 x SISSC Principals meetings. These are meetings of the steering group of the colleges 3 x Dedicated HR/Payroll workshops. These meetings have been held to devise and finalise the specification of the Solution Design Document which standardises all procedures, reports and processes of HR activity across the member colleges of SISSC. 1 x Future planning activity which was a strategic look at the long term direction of SISSC and its potential development in terms of widening the partnership and making it available to non-founder colleges. The result of the above activity is the production of the binding SDD. This document (there is also one for Finance) underpins the shift to Cloud based HR solutions. Indicative Cost Savings The cloud application of this FE Sussex collaborative project provides the opportunity to make significant cost savings through the reduction in individual college servers, over and above common software savings. FE Sussex We will reduce in-college servers by 10 at the end of this project. Each server costs approximately 13K pa to run and service. Hosting environment fees are less than half this. This will therefore result in a 75k saving. Lessons Learned FE Sussex: We would have considered additional full time staffing at an earlier stage. 5

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8 With thanks to all project partners who contributed to the development of this case study and consultant Chris West Association of Colleges Stedham Place, London WC1A 1HU Tel: Fax: Website: