A Campus Perspective: Web Client Migration at Sullivan University

One of the items that the Sullivan Team focused on prior to starting the migration process was to become very familiar with the web client version. This way, the team could be a resource for admins throughout the migration process.

Chris pointed out that getting buy-in and support from leadership was vital. At Sullivan, that buy-in started with the president. The first email about the migration came from the president, highlighting the need for the migration, the support that units would receive from IT, and some of the benefits of moving to the web client, while also thanking the community for their patience and support.

The IT Team continues to use that email as a starting point for communications to individual departments (forwarding the message along with a notification that their area is next) as a subtle reminder of the importance of the migration.

A migration as large as this has to happen department-by-department. The Sullivan Team spent time documenting all of the departments and Anthology Student users within each department. For each campus department or unit, the team identified leads and evaluators (key admins who would be able to provide early feedback). Hopefully, the information on how the team approached the migration will be helpful for your institution.

The team works with one department at a time with a goal of completing the migration in an average of three weeks. For each department, the following steps are taken:

1. Department Commitment Call (15 minutes)

   Approximately two weeks prior to the project kick-off, Chris conducts a brief commitment call with the department director during which the following is covered:

   • Secure commitment that the director’s department can dedicate itself to the designated three-week web client implementation process
   • Confirm the accuracy of the department staff list
   • Gain approval for the list of staff selected to be the leads/evaluators
   • Following the commitment call, department director emails staff to notify them of project launch and request Outlook calendars be updated so upcoming testing/training sessions may be scheduled (draft email provided to department director)
2. Kick-Off Call (1 hour)

   This call includes the department director and the department staff selected to serve as the leads/evaluators. The agenda includes:

   • An overview of the implementation process and timeline
   • A discussion of the Business Process Inventory [(BPI) outlining the department processes performed in Anthology Student]
   • A discussion of the Reports Template which will provide information on the department reports needed
   • A discussion of next steps (department is given 3-5 days to continue to build out the BPI and Reports Template and then return them to the Application Support Team)

   Once the BPI is received, Application Support takes three days to set up the necessary permissions within the web client and develop a testing and training plan. Report assessment is a separate piece as two data analysts review all department reports to determine which are available out-of-the-box and which may need to be rebuilt in the web client. All work on reports may not be completed by Go Live, but this does not prevent a department from implementing the web client.

3. Initial Training & Testing (2 hours)

   This includes the department director and other staff designated as the leads/evaluators.

   • The first hour is dedicated to an interactive, facilitated training session that involves showing excerpts from a 13-minute video (covers basic navigation along with a section specific to the department being migrated) and then asking a participant to share their screen to demonstrate what was covered in the preceding excerpt to reinforce the training.
   • The second hour is dedicated to the leads/evaluators working through their processes, as identified on the Business Process Inventory, in the web client to confirm they understand how to perform their operations. The Application Support Team is on the line to answer questions or provide guidance.

   NOTE: At this time, if a school would like to overlap departments to accelerate full implementation it may also conduct the kick-off call with the next scheduled department (timing out a commitment call prior to this).

4. Retest (1 hour)

   This is held 2-3 days after the initial training/testing session to allow the Application Support Team time to make any necessary updates or adjustments and provide the department leads/evaluators time to continue working in the web client test environment to identify further questions or issues.

   • The one-hour retest is dedicated to allowing the department leads/evaluators to continue performing their operations in the web client to ensure all is working as expected while Application Support is on the line to address issues. This time frame is flexible as a full hour may not be needed.
5. Department-Wide Training (2 hours)

   This training is for all department staff who have not yet been involved in the web client implementation process.

   • Just as in the initial training/testing session, brief excerpts from the video are shown, and participants are engaged by sharing their screens and demonstrating processes. Remaining time is used to test their processes. This session may also be divided into two one-hour time periods. (This session is recorded and shared with participants.)
6. Go Live and Retrospective

   Following the department-wide training, a brief (15 minutes) meeting is scheduled with the leads/evaluators to determine a Go Live date. In addition, a retrospective is conducted to secure feedback on the implementation (what went well, what did not go well, and what could be improved), so there is continuous improvement of the process.

And that’s it! While there is a lot to this, the Sullivan Team has figured out a process that is easily repeatable and works for their IT Team, and more importantly, for their users.

A key message throughout the process is that this is an update to existing software, and it’s all about taking advantage of new features and a more user-friendly layout and design. It’s not a completely new implementation where everything is changing.

Clearly, there is a lot that goes into a migration, and there are a number of people who are involved to some extent in the process. Chris leads the project management process and liaises with the executive team, while another member of the team leads content and video creation. One person is responsible for handling the scheduling and coordination with departments, while several members of the team facilitate and attend each training. Two members of the team are dedicated to assessing and developing reports.

Sullivan University is still working through additional departments, but the majority of departments have been migrated at this point. Chris estimated that of those users who have been migrated, nearly two-thirds are working exclusively, or almost exclusively, in the web client, even though desktop is still available to them (and will be for the foreseeable future).

Congratulations to the Sullivan Team on the successful roll-out of the web client! More details and examples are available below to help you migrate to the web client.

Guides for Migration and Samples of Communications.zip provided by the team at Sullivan University.