1. Using your Ayes and Noes:
Creating a Business Case for an Institutional Portal
Bo’s post at University of Leeds = Academic Services Portal Project Manager
This 2 year post created because there were staff across Academic Services who thought an Institutional Portal was “a good idea”.
Politics meant that the post was positioned as a cross service post.
Remit:
To investigate portal implementations in HE
To undertake user requirements work
To undertake business process analysis (or work with others doing same)
To create a business case for an institutional portal
To steer procurement/development process
To implement a portal pilot
Bo Middleton
Institutional Web Management Workshop 2004

2. Group discussion Report back Leeds experiences x 3
Workshop = opportunity to draw on my experience but, since these workshops are meant to be participative events, also to draw on your own ideas about creating a business case for a portal.
Therefore – group discussion followed by report back – but I will also being giving you some details about hoe I’ve gone about creating a business case
Theme of workshop = creating a business case using your Ayes and Noes

3. Group discussion 1
Who/What are your Ayes and Noes? (include those external to institution).
How can you identify Ayes and Noes and get feedback from them?
Who/What are your Ayes and Noes? (include those external to institution).
Not just people
– include any source of information
– don’t forget events/precedents
May feel that some Ayes and Noes ‘people’ or ‘precedents’ are unique to your institution - but over this last year I’ve come to realise that implementing a portal is 95% people and politics and 5% technology and, unfortunately ‘politics’ is not unique to any institution
How can you identify Ayes and Noes and get feedback from them?
For each of the Ayes and Noes – how can you find them and get information from them

4. Ayes and Noes at UoL 1 Ayes Bleeding edge Us and them Peddlers
Other HE implementors
Portal anoraks
Open source communities
Us and them
Peddlers
Portal, CMS, process management suppliers
Paper promises
Strategy documents
Web
JISC projects
Commercial portals
Noes
People
Academic freedom fighters
Technology freaks
Web wizards
Dinosaurs
Systems
Paper promises
Operational plans
Purse strings
Bleeding edge
Other HE implementors
Portal anoraks
Open source communities
Us and them
Students
Staff
Peddlers
Portal, CMS, process management suppliers
Paper promises
Strategy documents
Web
JISC projects
Commercial portals
People
Academic freedom fighters
Technology freaks
Web wizards
Dinosaurs
Systems
VLE
Communication apps
Collaborative tools
Identity Services
Content Management
Web-enabled services
Legacy apps
Operational plans
Purse strings

5. Ayes and Noes at UoL 2 Other HE institutions JISC projects
Commercial portals
Open source communities
Students
Suppliers
Strategy docs and operational plans
Staff
Committees
Web – type in ‘portal’
Bristol links
JISC
Structured meetings
Student union/ student services/ intranet/ user groups/ mailing lists
Web survey (Hull)
Focus groups (incentive)
Web - review of portal products/contacts with current suppliers
Functionality, ROI and benefits docs
Presentations
Map strategy points against portal benefits
Staff Calendar/mailing lists/ newsletters
Roadshow
Committee round – presentations focussed on appropriate area
Grouped into 5 areas
Second column shows ways that I have engaged with each group
Web survey for staff as well
User requirements work directly contributing to business case – what do students and staff want in a portal
More on the strategy/benefits mapping later

6. Group discussion 2
What are the reasons given by 'Ayes' and 'Noes' for/against a portal?
Suppliers/bleeding edge – list the functionality/benefits of a portal
Strategy docs – list the strategic aims which could be fulfilled by portal implementation
What ‘systems’ on campus have overlapping functionality with a portal or will need to ‘integrate’ into the portal?
Imagine the detractor’s arguments
Academic freedom fighters
Technology freaks
Web wizards
Dinosaurs
Purse strings
Potential users – what do users want?
Using the Ayes and Noes identified - I’ve listed the kind of information needed to build a business case

7. Ayes at UoL Strategic aims Functionality/benefits of a portal
Improve efficiency of teaching processes
Improve efficiency of administrative processes
Improve student experience
Improve cross-education links
Maximise ROI of corporate systems
Need to adapt teaching and working styles to suit the individual
Deliver collaborative systems and tools
Implement a web interface which aggregates all web-enabled services
Functionality/benefits of a portal
Provides presentation layer
Eases access to information, reduces overload and simplifies
Provides a common and consistent user interface
Allows aggregation across systems
Delivers ubiquitous access
Provides:
simplified sign-on
communication and collaboration tools
Portal benefits/functionality:
Provides presentation layer - A portal provides the presentation layer for all current and future applications. It can save costs in purchasing web enabled products and/or, new applications in development can utilise the portal as the presentation layer of the application, saving development effort.
Eases access to information, reduces overload and simplifies searching - Users are faced with a vast array of information when using University web pages and Campusweb, the majority of it being irrelevant for the one particular piece of information required at any one time. At the same time, because there is so much information accessible, users can’t find what they actually need. A portal can solve these problems by providing targeted information and offering the opportunity to search across a variety of information.
Provides a common and consistent user interface - A portal provides a single user interface (UI) for all the information/content, applications and processes of the institution. Each service or ‘channel’ is delivered with the same ‘look and feel’. In addition, the barriers to introducing new content and services are reduced by launching them through a new portal ‘channel’.
Allows aggregation across systems - A portal has the ability to take data, content and processes from a variety of sources, providing a single ‘channel’ to access related information. For example, financial details could be taken from the SAP Finance database and from the Library Management System to provide a single ‘balance sheet’ service. Thus, the portal has the potential to offer new services and present new ways of analysing data.
Delivers ubiquitous access - The portal can be accessed from any web-capable device connected to the internet, significantly broadening the scope of access to traditionally ‘on-campus’ only applications.
Provides simplified sign-on - The portal may provide a mechanism for simplifying sign-on to other applications (though this may be provided elsewhere). If this functionality is provided by portal software then, significant benefits can be derived - including reduction in password queries to helpdesk and library staff, less time spent on password look up for users, and increased security (since simplified sign on will preclude the need to write down list of usernames and passwords).
 Accenture survey:
Integrate/ streamline information & services 49%
Improve service to students/ staff 40%
Offer personalised/ customised/ targeted service 30%
Improve administration efficiency 26%
Attract students 19%
Enhance university image/ raise profile 17%
Engage/ connect/ build community 11%
Offer distance/ flexible learning 9%

8. Noes at UoL Detractor’s arguments Current systems
Academic freedom fighters
do things their own way
damn standardisation
Technology freaks
not invented here; not the right OS; not my choice
portals should work with every browser possible
Web wizards
frames are what matter
content is nothing to do with us
we can just have web links
Dinosaurs
Current systems
VLE
Communication apps
Collaboration tools
Identity Services
Content Management
Web-enabled services
Enterprise apps
More about dinosaurs
Against implementation:
No web strategy
Resources and commitment
Culture
Achieving authentication
Achieving authorisation
Achieving customisation
Content management
Portal functionality/level of integration

9. Users at UoL 1
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10. Users at UoL 2
I seem to be missing the point. Why would I want an additional item on my PC when I already have all the things being offered here? Windows, with its related software isn't great, but it does offer a relatively predictable and manageable environment where I can do all the things I need to do. Forcing some things (like ) through a web browser tends to reduce their utility, so I definitely wouldn't want that. I already have a specialised rss news feed service relevant to my own area of interest (education) and that works very well. Internet Explorer gives me very rapid access (assisted by experience, Google and my own favourites folder) to all the available information I need. A portal of this general type looks to me like a complete waste of time and money. Words like "seamless" "customisable" "channel" and "tailored" are just marketing rubbish. A readily searchable University web site is all I want. I certainly don't want to spend a lot of time configuring a personal portal page. The portal idea seems to imply closure, and the subordination of the tasks I have to perform to more general University concerns. I guess I'll learn to make the most of it while nostalgically remembering the good old days when it was possible to find things within a couple of seconds
There are some great ideas on this form. The idea of a portal that can dispense as much information as is listed in the survey is very, very interesting.
Most of things listed sound wonderful. Obviously the academic ones would be my priority.
I really like the idea of a portal, having all important information in one area.
·       

11. Group discussion 3
How can you use the for and against arguments to compile your business case?
Start with a high level strategic business case – what functionality does your portal need and how can that functionality support strategic aims?
Then identify key areas which may be used to drive out ROI in a full business case
Functionality/benefits of a portal
Strategic aims which could be fulfilled by portal implementation
Systems overview
Detractor’s arguments
User requirements
What kind of business case is required
High level strategic business case?
Real numbers showing ROI?

12. Deriving the business case at UoL
User requirements -> functionality specification for your portal
Map required portal functionality against current systems and identify the gap that a portal product could fill
Map portal benefits against strategic aims
Ensure that the business case addresses all the detractors’ comments
Strategic Business Case = overall portal vision + purpose of the portal + benefits of the portal + do nothing option
the ayes (together with collected evidence) give the business drivers and
the noes focus the business case – aiding the identification of the benefits which you should emphasise
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13. Final slide - summarise and thanks
Produce a clear statement of the portal vision
Identify sponsors and stakeholders. Build alliances
Map specific strategic aims to portal benefits
Survey stakeholders and collect evidence of user requirements – use this to derive a functionality specification for your portal.
Map required portal functionality against current systems and identify the gap that a portal product should fill
Strategic Business Case = overall portal vision + purpose of the portal + benefits of the portal + do nothing option