When and How Long?

A key question often asked is “When can the UW begin its system replacement projects and how long will they take?” The answer depends upon many internal and external variables, including:

• How long it will take to secure funding and approvals from the state and others
• Time needed to explore possible partnerships
• The impact of competing priorities for funding at the UW and of any leadership or organizational changes
• Institutional commitment and capacity
• Vendor product releases
• Length of time needed to recruit staff
• The impact of other major non-technology projects on needed resources

This is a major undertaking that will require years of sustained institutional commitment to be successful.

The timing also depends upon what approach, or combination of approaches, the UW chooses to take. Examples of alternative approaches are included in the following table:

Area	Option 1	Option 2
Speed of implementation	Implement more quickly: Implement with minimal customizations. Minimize data conversion. Defer enhanced reporting, portals, and interfaces.	Implement more slowly: Allow time for change management and user training. Include more user-friendly features. Customize more to meet user needs.
Implementation releases	The “big bang” approach—implement for all users, all modules.	Implement in increments—for example, by module or by user group.
Timing and overlap of projects	Overlap major business systems projects: Work to replace finance, HR/payroll, student, etc., concurrently.	Focus on one business area at a time.
Project staffing	Use system integration and consulting firms to staff the implementation projects, training internal staff to provide support and maintenance. This generally will allow a faster implementation, but it likely will cost more.	Backfill internal staff (users and technical), train staff, and use consultant experts only where needed for knowledge transfer. This generally will take longer, but it likely will cost less.

Each involves balancing project scope, schedule, and resources and evaluating the capacity of the institution to implement and manage change. Any adjustment to one of these variables impacts the other two.

The Reality Triangle

In general, faster implementations are more expensive, more resource intensive, more disruptive, and involve higher risks. Slower implementations can be less costly, allow for more customization, training and knowledge transfer, and therefore are less disruptive and involve less risk. However, they take longer. These tradeoffs between scope, time, and resources are what John (Barry) Walsh of the University of Indiana Information Systems refers to as the “reality triangle.” Any impact in one area affects the other two.

The diagram below illustrates the idea that the three areas are interdependent.