BUSINESS CASE FOR GEORGIA TECH ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT

Transcription

1 BUSINESS CASE FOR GEORGIA TECH ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT MV Page 1

2 PROJECT BUSINESS CASE Project Identification Project Name: Enterprise Data Management Date: _07/19/2012 Business Unit/Program Area: Decision Support Group_ Project Sponsor: Dr. Amir Rahnamay-Azar Project Manager: Mercy Vennel MV Page 2

3 Executive Summary Business Need/Problem: Improve the timeliness, accessibility, reliability, completeness, comparability, and historicity of data in Georgia Tech. Grow Georgia Tech s ability to measure progress toward the Strategic Plan by making a strategic investment in modern technological solutions in data management. Proposed Solution: Initiate a discovery project. Strategize for implementation of best practice solutions and methodologies of these data management disciplines: data governance, data warehousing, and business intelligence. Consistency/Fit with Organization s Mission: Enterprise Data Management is in support of Georgia Tech s strategic vision. Alignment with the core values and guiding principles embraced in the Strategic Business and Operations Framework. Alignment with Georgia Tech s Strategic Plan Goals and Institutional Initiatives. To improve Georgia Tech s Data Management it is recommended that we engage vendor independent consultants to: Review current state of Georgia Tech data infrastructure/support and assist in the design of a framework solution and roadmap. Analyze Georgia Tech data and reporting needs. Provide recommendations for data management, data warehouse implementation, and business intelligence tools. Provide best practices and success factors in regard to resourcing and funding for this initiative. MV Page 3

4 Business Need/Problem: Data are assets in Georgia Tech that need to be managed just like capital, labor, landscape, and facilities. Only by understanding what your data assets are their business context can you provision them with the right resources, protect them appropriately, or govern them in a manner that is compliant with regulatory and legal mandates. (Data Management Institute). Georgia Tech collects and stores data on all characteristics of students, colleges, facilities, finances, budgets, faculty and staff, and research. However, most of these data are stored in disparate systems and the data are not easily accessible or assimilated. Executives and senior management who need this information to make decisions are often required to spend invaluable time determining the source, collection, analysis, and veracity of the data. Managers across the Institute need this information both to make decisions and prepare compliance reports; as a result they are often forced to allocate an inordinate amount of resources to access data and transform the data into a usable form. Furthermore, it is clear that Georgia Tech s data management limitations will make it very difficult to track and measure the success of Georgia Tech s Strategic Plan. Georgia Tech needs to improve the timeliness, accessibility, reliability, completeness, comparability, and historicity of its information and reporting capabilities. We propose that a strategic investment in both modern technological solutions and human resources in data management can position Georgia Tech to measure progress toward the Strategic Plan, efficiently meet reporting demands, and provide a wealth of currently unavailable information to leaders and managers to enable them to make accurate and timely decisions. MV Page 4

5 Proposed Solution: In order to relentlessly pursue institutional effectiveness, we propose to initiate a discovery project to develop a plan which will revolutionize Georgia Tech s approach to data management a plan that will bolster Georgia Tech s ability to use data resources to report information, measure progress towards strategic goals, and make better-informed decisions at all levels. This is a large scope, Institute-wide project which will enable Georgia Tech to shift its operational focus from transaction-centric to information-centric. The end-result of this project will be an implementation of best practice solutions and methodologies of these data management disciplines: data governance, data warehousing, and business intelligence. The results of the discovery effort will be implemented such that it is institutionalized in the form of an ongoing program to maintain and improve data management to keep Georgia Tech at the forefront of information systems innovation and be among the most highly respected technology-focused learning institutions in the world. This type of large-scale project/program will require significant investment and support from the executive leadership. It is hoped that the executive leadership will recognize that even as Georgia Tech does collectively and individually possess tremendous talents in many areas of data management, it does not possess the resources to implement a best-in-class solution without expertise from the data management industry. Just as when we approach a new capital building project we take care to bring in outside help from the various specialists such as architectural firms, engineering firms, and general contractors, with a strategic data management project of this scale, we need to look to the industry for resources and expertise to help us develop the right plan for Georgia Tech. With the help of vendor independent expertise, we can define a strategy, develop the correct plan, define the scope, the organizational structure, human resources, timeline, and investment for Georgia Tech to fully leverage and optimize its information assets for the future. MV Page 5

6 Consistency/Fit with Organization s Mission: Georgia Tech s Enterprise Data Management project to improve data governance, data warehousing, and business intelligence will have a direct impact on Georgia Tech s ability to meet the objectives stated in the President s Strategic Vision. Only through reliable and relevant data can we accurately measure Georgia Tech s progress towards the attainment of these goals. Specifically, this effort is closely aligned with the core values and guiding principles represented in the Strategic Business and Operations Framework and the following Strategic Plan Goals and Institutional Initiatives: Strategic Plan Goals Goal 1 Goal 5 Be among the most highly respected technology-focused learning institutions in the world. Relentlessly pursue institutional effectiveness. Institutional Initiatives 2. Be the Innovation Institute. 6. Expand and enhance the current programs dealing with technology and policy. 8. Explore collaborative partnerships. 10. Establish best business and administrative practices, including a new institutional approach to intellectual property. MV Page 6

7 The following recommendations discussed in a recent Decision Support Group meeting served as the impetus for this business case. These recommendations are based on months of campus explorations, meetings, interviews, discussions, observations, and working sessions in which the Enterprise Data Management Team collaborated with subject matter experts across campus: Recommendations for Georgia Tech to improve Data Management: Executive Sponsorship. Support mission and vision of project. Confirm importance of project. Ensure success of project. Promote Institute-wide awareness of project. Finalize Mission And Vision. Clearly define strategic direction. Finalize goals and objectives. Engage Vendor Independent Consultants. Review current state of Georgia Tech data infrastructure/support and assist in designing framework solution. Analyze Georgia Tech data and reporting needs. Provide recommendations for data management, data warehouse implementation, and business intelligence tools. Assist with exploration, evaluation and selection of vendor solutions and products. Assessment of buy/build or hybrid solution and aid with decision. MV Page 7

8 Recommendations for Georgia Tech to improve Data Management: (continued) Define Project Scope And Budget. Define project goals and objectives. Define key project milestones. Define project timeline. Define financial commitment to project. Define project deliverables. Define project priorities. Finalize Dedicated Organization And Staffing Needs. Dedicated organizational structure. Staff that includes 100% focused FTE s and consultants to the project. Roles and responsibilities and staff committed entirely to the project. Formal Project Kick-Off. Communicate project to campus. Engage campus representatives from business, functional and technical units in various phases of the project and collaborative implementation. Set defined project start date and end date. Collaborations: All Georgia Tech Units and Affiliates MV Page 8

9 Anticipated Benefits: (both qualitative and quantitative) Alignment of Georgia Tech around its strategic goals. Enhanced business intelligence by improved data facts and availability that can be applied directly to business processes. Saved time by providing single version of data truth enabling quicker, fact-based decision-making and reliable presentation of information. Enhanced data quality, consistency and accuracy across departments. Provide historical intelligence to analyze different time periods and trends in order to make future predictions. Generate high ROI (Return on Investment) as compared with higher education institutions that have invested in enterprise data management and business intelligence projects. Cost/Benefit Analysis: Facilitate strategic decisions. Positively impact all campuses, all departments, and all areas of responsibility, from Senior Leadership Team, deans, directors, administrators, analysts, staff and support personnel. Decreased costs by increased efficiencies and elimination of redundant data systems and shadow systems. Improved information dissemination. Improved information access. Improved data quality and feedback to the operational systems. Improved collaboration across campus units. Realize cost savings in institute operations. MV Page 9

10 Contributors: Sandi Bramblett Julie Clabby Don Cochran Jim Fortner Carol Gibson Emily Howell Jim Kirk Sandy Mason Carol Payne Dan Taylor Veronica Stokes Lori Sundal Richard Tanner Mercy Vennel Chet Warzynski Howard Wertheimer MV Page 10

11 Signature: Print Name: Dr. Amir Rahnamay-Azar Title: Senior Vice President, Administration and Finance Role: Project Sponsor Date: MV Page 11