November 2019
- Report Date
- November 2019
SSP Programme Report -November 2019 by Franck Bergeret for Lisa Dawson (Owner)
Section one: programme summary, risks
Section two: projects in progress with status amber or red
Section three: forward look and resource update
Section four: projects not started
Section five: closed or withdrawn projects
Section six: non SSP projects having an impact on SSP resources
The format of this programme reporting is reporting by exception: each of the projects which are GREEN, i.e. on track to deliver the agreed scope within the agreed milestones and agreed budget are not reported in Section Three. For GREEN projects the recent achievements and next steps can be found from selecting the project on the SSP Programme Home Page and viewing the relevant monthly report (listed on the right hand side of the project view).
The RAG will reflect the changes over the last month with set tolerance for SSP: a one page summary is available on this link
Section One: Programme Summary and Risks
RAG status: the programme is RED to reflect the impact of resource conflicts, delay in recruiting staff (details in the table below) and impact of the industrial action
- Project manager and experienced BA have left key projects at short notice due to conflicts with Core systems. Impact 2 projects (noted as RED below in section 2) : Data Futures SAC077, and servers upgrade SAC080
- Programme manager workload to cover PM support on completing Direct Admissions and implementation to HECoS
- Data Futures: lead developer conflicted with SEP/PCIM work
- Thanks to USG additional funding over 2 years, 2 Dev and 1 Tester have been recruited but there is delay in recruiting 1 additional BA. This will delay the start of the Student Record Enhancement until BA/Dev in place and trained
- Funded by SSP, a new BA is still to be recruited to backfill vacancy on SCEC
- Backfill post for SSP technical lead to be in place in Feb once lead developer moves to SCEC project in Feb
- There are unplanned work emerging KSR (Keep the Service Running) that will impact programme: change to the ceremony code, web applications allow virus files to be uploaded, ColdFusion upgrades for student systems applications
Budget
For 19/20 the SSP programme IS budget is 3,245 days. see details on LINK
- 2,020 core funded
- 1,025 USG funded (incl some days accrued from schools funding being spent by Sep)- Not confirmed is the additional funding required for Data Futures IS Apps work
Decision required: estimated ~125d of IS Apps days unfunded, of which most relates to Data Futures work
Delivered this month
- Direct Admissions performance improvements: post live enhancement for Tabs Navigation, moving to closure
- APT: 3 stories deployed, no bugs reported
Closure this month
- Statutory Returns 18/19
Programme planning
- Resources changes have been approved across the programme for 19/20. Noted is the constraint for system build: the recommended number of projects able to be built concurrently in EUCLID remains at 5
- SEP additional work but with SSP resources not approved is noted in section 6. Governance required
Red and Amber Programme Risks & Issues
There are a number of programme risks which are RED or AMBER at this time. They are being monitored fortnightly with programme owner
|
RED | Lisa Dawson | |
|
RED | Lisa Dawson | |
| Availability of SSP Business Analyst resources | RED | Chris Giles | |
| Replacement of EUGEX, end of life | AMBER | Lisa Dawson | |
| Estimated effort required for Data Futures may be significant | AMBER | Paula Webster | |
| EUCLID accessibility does not follow new guidelines | AMBER | Lisa Dawson | |
|
AMBER | Lisa Dawson |
SEP allocation
- Resources is currently required for SA&S Service Excellence programme, and within SSP to support the compliance programme of work (Upgrade, Data Futures statutory returns) and continuous improvements of core functions such as assessment and progression tool (APT) , admission improvements, and annual registration
(FTE based on 185 days available per year per staff)
| Resource | FTE available to projects in Nov |
Actual effort (FTE) on SEP in Nov (baseline 10.2 FTE) |
SEP effort projection next 3 months Dec- Feb (FTE per month) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developers |
8.4 (was 8.4 in Oct, 8.3 in Sep, 9.1 in Aug) |
3.2 (was 4 in Oct, 3 in Sep, 3.3 in Aug) |
4.4 |
|
| Business Analyst/Tester |
8.5 (was 8.5 in Oct, 9.1 in Sep, 9.8 in Aug) |
4.7 (was 5.3 in Oct, 5.7 in Sep, 6.4 in Aug) |
4.8 |
|
SSP resources gap
- The demand for SSP and Service Excellence work cannot be met by existing developer, BA and tester resources' capacities. Resource gaps analysis has been shared with Programme Owner and short term recruitment secured. Resource gap is as follows:
| Resources | Projects | Details | actions and progress | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Developer BA |
SWAY |
|
Outstanding:
|
|
|
Developer PM BA
|
Data Futures |
|
Approved
Outstanding:
|
|
|
Developer BA |
PCIM |
PCIM procurement will require a developer to support technical details: approved conflict with Data Futures for 6 weeks Currently only PCIM is resourced with 1 BA (plus help from contractor, part time) |
Approved:
|
|
|
Developer BA |
SEP Enquiry management system SEP Student Finance SEP EdHelp |
Procurement/Design work has started in SEP, which will require data integration with Student Records in 2020. Resources for SSP BA/Dev have NOT been approved for design/build, but planning resources for student finance as a priority in 2020 (requirements unknown) |
Outstanding:
|
|
| Tester |
SSP programme |
Conflict for testing . Tester is required for Annual Registration SAC078 |
Approved:
Completed
|
|
| Developer | On going Euclid Live Support & KSR |
There is a current demand for ~12d a month of SSP developer time to support Euclid Live. This is in addition to projects- However the 1st 4months show fewer effort required (19 d used vs 48d planned) There are also additional unplanned work emerging that will cause conflicts and will impact projects:
|
In progress:
Outstanding:
|
Section Two: Projects in Progress with status of Amber or Red
| Project | Issue or change resulting in AMBER or RED Status | ||
|
SAC077 Data Futures - Requirements Analysis & Implementation RED, PM none (was Victoria Weinsberg) |
Red as 1) the Project Manager and Business Analyst who have left the project (conflict with Core Systems) in Oct have not been replaced . TBC new PM in Feb 20. BA resource has been escalated by sponsor. - 2) 2nd Dev resource has been secured from Feb20. -3) Lead developer has been conflicted with PCIM work over Dec/Jan... Impact 1, 2 & 3: project is delayed, agreed to suspend system changes activities over Dec and Jan . Also likely to need more resources in 2020/21 - 4) There is also uncertainty about the HESA requirements and when this will be communicated. Not a showstopper as current scope of work for 19/20 will prepare foundation for both system and data quality. Link to status report |
||
|
SAC080 SITS Redhat Operating System move to Centos RED, PM Anne Mathieson |
Red as the resources to progress project are not available as a result of industrial actions. Remaining milestones will need to be rescheduled, likely after the SITS software upgrade project. No impact to the business as the end of life of the server is in summer 2020. There is a window to upgrade Live server after the SITS software upgrade in March 2020 Link to status report |
||
|
Red, PM Franck Bergeret |
Red as the project is being impacted by staff unavailability (sickness and Euclid support conflict). Risk of not meeting March deadline for go live. Action: complete checkpoint and assess impact to planned go live/options to include UX work. Escalate to sponsor and programme owner Link to status report |
||
|
SAC082 Implementation to HECoS codes AMBER PM cover by Franck Bergeret |
Amber to reflect impact of the industrial actions and PM change Link to status report |
||
|
SAC079 Direct Admissions improvements AMBER PM cover by Franck Bergeret |
Amber as there has been delay to complete due to additional post live fixes and change freeze as a result of the industrial actions- Remaining dates re-planned in December and communicated Link to status report |
||
|
SAC070 Student Funding 2 AMBER- BA Brenda Kutereba |
Delay to closure following completion of all SOP handover Link to status report |
||
AMBER PM Franck Bergeret
|
Not started-Amber. There are delays in recruiting staff to start the new funded project. Aim to start in Feb when APT 4 build pauses | ||
|
SERVICE EXCELLENCE SA&S projects, which SSP is a supplier (SCEC, SWAY and PCIM) |
|||
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SAS010 Programme and Course Information Management RED, PM Ruth Wilson |
link to Status report The status of this project has been escalated to and is being managed through our governance processes. We are red against scope time and cost against our signed off PID and Plan. The project is now highly likely to be subject to a change control. The PCIM Project Board, Service Excellence Design Authority and SA&S programme board have endorsed further investigation of an option which, if approved, will mean we need to restate the project completely. The Project and Programme Boards and Service Excellence Design Authority support further investigation of a technical solution using course management software provided by Tribal. Programme Board have approved short term funding and resources on the expectation that we will complete investigations and report back by end Feb 2020. If we are able to demonstrate that the potential solution can be delivered in a cost effective way will request approval to proceed with an entirely new PID and Plan at the February SA&S Board meeting |
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SAS016 Work and Study Away (SWAY) AMBER, PM Chris Copner |
Link to status report Time is amber: data gathering within Discovery phase is in progress and until this completes there is uncertainty about project milestones. Cost is amber: grant calculator functionality has the potential to be a significant task, and we will be clearer of how much effort will be required once the feasibility study and estimates are completed. |
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SAS003 Extensions and Special Circumstances (ESC) AMBER, PM Ranald Swanson |
Link to status report Critical path identifies some areas of functionality at Red/Amber; Additional developer and BA resources due in February 2020 to mitigate that. |
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Section Three: Forward Look and Resource update
Forward Look and RAG
For illustrative purposes, the expected monthly effort figures assume that the requested effort for SSP, SEP and "other" projects will be funded from within the SSP programme budget of 2,220 days for IS resources. ( ie 12 FTE at a rate of 185 days per annum). Additional 1,025d sponsor funded (USG)- The SSP Team resource is as follows;
- SSP IS Apps currently made up of
- 9.9 FTE SSP IS Core (8.9 FTE developers, Programme Manager/PM 1 FTE), + additional 2 Dev contracted
- 1.3 FTE Other IS Apps staff (=241d Core funded) + 143d USG sponsor funded (PM and Dev Tech)- Total 384d
- SSP Student Systems: 11 FTE (Business Analysts, Testers, Trainer, Implementer) + 0.5 FTE tester contracted
Forward look SSP Programme & SAS Programme in Service Excellence
Resources Update - Summary
The following table summarises resource usage for
- SSP DEV + SSP PS (Developers and Programme Manager)
- Student Systems ( SSP BA & Testers) teams across the programmes which have used, or plan to use more than 5 days SSP effort.
- The other effort being shown is the IS Apps (it excludes SSP Dev & programme manager)
1. Current plan shows the SSP programme is short of 184 days. Mostly due to additional development resource added onto Data Futues and not budgeted for.
2.IS Apps budget (non SSP resources) for 19/20 is 384d . The current planned effort is 509d. That's a resource gap of 125d and includes the additional 74d from Programme Manager moving from 0.6 to 1 FTE. Under discussion between SSP/IS directors is the 180 SSP days budgeted for infrastructure work (Operating system server upgrade & database VM server move). There is also uncertainty about the work required from IS Apps for Data Futures (was estimated at 204d now) and the funding for it.
3. SEP budget for 19/20 is set at 540d (3 SSP developers), plus additional contractor capacity (6 months=120d) . It is likely that fewer development effort is required on SWAY project during pilot. 228d Dev effort spent this year (incl additional Dev contractor). Burning rate as expected.
Section Four: Projects Not Started
| Project Info | Programme Manager's Commentary |
|
GDPR2 Compliance Status: in SSP programme plan of work for 19/20-Start Feb 20 |
Proposal to delay GDPR2 to next academic year 2019/20- Approved by SA&S Board in Nov 2018 New risk raised to assess scope of work remaining and risk of not doing it LINK- Aim to address priority 2 (delete unsuccessful applicants) by March 2020-decision required on priority and conflict for staff (SWAY and DF) Approval to progress with top 4 priorities. Estimated at BA 110d, Dev 70d, PM 25d |
|
Automated release and change management for EUCLID discretionary Status: research on hold |
On hold due to SSP lead developer's resignation - Handover done. Will restart once tech lead post backfilled in Feb Technical improvement to improve release service. Initial proof of concept to deploy configuration file has been completed. Further work progressed with automated release of database change. Handover to other SSP dev required following senior dev resignation. |
|
Culture of change- Continuous Improvement Status: in progress in Student Systems |
BAs led activity to introduce LEAN approach to the Student Systems department |
|
web applications allow virus files to be uploaded (pen test outcome) not started- to plan within programme of work KSR (Keep Service Running) after the SITS upgrade in April 2020 |
Outcome of the pen tests, one critical issue approved to be progressed: web applications allow virus files to be uploaded - up to 10d developer time |
|
Ceremony codes for 2020 start June 20- KSR |
in 2020 we expect we will run out of ceremony codes using A-Z and 1-9 for the winter graduation. -Need to have a solution in place by Aug 2020- Options are either to fix that issue only (estimated at 20d build) or bring in the new SITS graduation component (may be part of Student Record Enhancement) |
|
ColdFusion upgrades for student systems applications start Jun 20- KSR |
Expected new server to be ready for June 2020 so that not supported student systems applications are moved by IS and tested by Student Systems
|
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Personalised staff teaching timetables analysis only start April 20 |
Technical analysis feasibility to focus on bringing in data into timetabling 1st- BA required for analysis in spring 20, with an implementation planned for start of semester 2 in 2021 |
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UCAS changes planned for implementation in the 2022 cycle not started |
will require resources in 20/21-May 20 is the 1st planned release, can the change be dealt within the SITS software upgrade? |
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SITS database servers are reaching end of life, need to move to the new VM infrastructure (Stefan Kaempf) Status: in SSP programme plan of work for 19/20- now at risk |
Drive- end of life of physical machines 1.We need to ensure that there is a project in the plan to have moved the database to virtual server infrastructure, where all other database servers applications run are moving to, by July 2021 Address performance concern/monitoring (other IS database will have moved). SSP involvement: performance, support, testing 2.There is a cost involved in maintaining the servers beyond the initial 5 years support coverage by Dell. We can extend by 2 years max. The cost has previously been covered by student systems, so can you please confirm if student systems / USG will cover this. I suggest to buy coverage for DEV/TEST for 2 years starting this summer which will be £10k over the two years. We then need a similar cost next year as LIVE gets out of support. Dependency: will start when SITS Software Upgrade and SAC080: OS end of life projects are completed |
|
Case Management Discretionary Status : on hold |
To support well-being and student immigration services. Low priority. Will not start in 18/19- Approved by SA&S Board in Nov 2018- Likely to wait for SEP/SRA enquiry management solution to be extended |
Section Five: Closed or Withdrawn Projects
| Project | Closure report link | date closed |
| Statutory returns 18/19 | Closure report by Lesley Elliot | Dec 2019 |
| Closure report by Chris Konczak | Oct 2019 | |
| Assessment & Progression APT3 | Closure Report by Franck Bergeret | Aug 2019 |
Section Six: non SSP Projects having an impact on SSP Resources
| Project Info | Programme Manager's Commentary |
| Service Excellence - Core system Finance integration (Contact Craig Middlemass, BA) and student finance one account ( contact Julie Gifford, SME) |
3 streams of work: 1. Work required to understand the scope of work for SSP to integrate the data between Euclid and new CORE system for student invoice, fee, payment, scholarship, bursary etc. Likely work for SSP in 19/20 will be to update the current Euclid finance feed for tuition fees to new core finance system. Unknown are the changes made to Core system for staff id and finance account codes that may also need to be changed in Euclid- Core system requirements are unknown. Go live is June 2020 2. New MyEd channel: work will be done by IS Apps, not SSP 3. SAS Student Finance Expected work to display only student fees. Assumption made that current extract between EUCLID and Finance would be reused. Limited work in 19/20 as per (1) Progress subject to SEP/SSP governance |
|
Service Excellence SRA002 Enquiry Management Procurement & implementation, (PM Lana Smith) AMBER
|
Few input from SSP during procurement, led by SSP Dev team leader. But implementation will require data integration with Student Records- Was expected Oct 2019 to April 2020- Estimate tbc depending on solution purchased-heading for minimum integration in 19/20. Progress subject to SEP/SSP governance |
|
Service Excellence SAS018 Student Hub (PM Alistair Wallace) RED
|
Consultation/ Workshop stage. Implementation may require SSP BA/Dev resources not available now. Progress subject to SEP/SSP governance |
|
DLAS: Providing customised services for micromasters capstone students |
Analysis required 1st as capstone students are held in EUCLID. Expecting EUCLID and EUGEX changes to identify and manage capstone students' activities and access (work would be to amend Eugex to include student personal email address to IDM feed for the first year. IDM (or potential Eugex) will use the programme codes setting up for MicroMaster to identify the student as a quick work around. This will save us to create a new flag and making any changes inside Euclid. ) Analysis, development and testing will be required. Effort unknown. Timeline required for April 20. Impact not doing the work: small, as there is manual workaround for small number of students to start with (<80) SSP work subject to governance |
| Attachment | Size |
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 ssp_resources_nov2019.png | 52.88 KB |
| forwardlook_nov19_ssp.png | 110.99 KB |
| forwardlook_nov19_sas.png | 61.52 KB |
