The ICT Department of a university compared to the ICT Department of a Secretariat for a network of universities

I work in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). When I joined the ICT industry it was called the information technology (IT) industry. Communication was added during the early 2000’s to recognize the important aspect of the communications infrastructure and related systems.

Having worked in ICT departments for banking services, national railways services, higher institution of education and currently a secretariat for a network of 46 African universities – I understand that the functions of the ICT departments in varying industries remain similar.

When I moved to Uganda to take up the position of Program Manager responsible for supporting ICT Services at the RUFORUM Secretariat I was struck by the differences in the implementation of the strategy for the ICT Department of a university and the ICT Department for a secretariat of a network of universities.

Prior to joining the RUFORUM Secretariat I worked for 10 years at Africa University – initially as a Systems Engineer and was later promoted to Director of the ICT Department.

The table below highlights the differences I have noted while leading the implementation of the two strategies - the Africa University ICT Strategy and the RUFORUM Secretariat ICT Strategy:

	Africa University ICT Department	RUFORUM Secretariat ICT Department
Strategy Focus	To strengthen the university and align the ICT strategy to support teaching, learning, collaboration  and research	To strengthen the Secretariat and inspire member universities to harness ICT
Department Size	Had a team of 20 technical staff	Has 2 technical staff
Technical Skills	A diverse set of technical skills was available among the technical staff Limited need to outsource technical roles	Narrow set of technical skills Have to outsource technical roles
Hosted Services	All mission critical systems were hosted on campus – because there was capacity to maintain the systems	The majority of the mission critical systems are hosted on the cloud – to ensure uptime and reduce maintenance burdens
The users of the ICT services – accessing the systems and network	A narrower set of users – these were students and staff.	Potentially a wider set of users located in various countries globally – these are secretariat staff, students on RUFORUM scholarships, grantees, governance bodies, faculty staff from member universities and other stakeholders
Decisions on new projects	Guided by a Senate Committee: the computerization committee	Guided by RUFORUM Secretariat Management supported by consultants
The ICT infrastructure and equipment	Larger local area network, about 1,000 concurrent users of network services	A smaller local area network, about 50 devices on the local area network
Funding	The budget is part of the university-wide budget. Students pay a technology fees. The department offers training services to the community for a fee.	The budget is supported through projects funding. Need to continuously mobilize resources

 

Conclusions

The fundamental functions of ICT departments do not change. Their roles are to support the business processes of a particular industry. As a Manager of an ICT Department one needs to develop a strategy that fits the business of that organization. In my case I had to step out of my comfort zone and operate across different technical areas, work with external service level providers, write proposals to mobilize resources and generally multi-task. I have benefited from the experience that RUFORUM has given me – I have been part of “sowing the seeds” by participating in developing web-based information management systems that are being used by network stakeholders across Africa to extract, share and deposit information.

The birth of RIMS: My lessons managing the RIMS project online

In Africa we celebrate the birth of a new born with great zeal. This article celebrates the birth of RIMS. RIMS was born in May 2013. The name RIMS was chosen by RUFORUM Secretariat staff and it stands for the web-based RUFORUM Information Management System developed to improve the business processes of the RUFORUM Secretariat where I work. RIMS is an open source platform built using the Django framework and Python programming language. RIMS runs on a MySQL relational database management system and a Linux server. RIMS is accessible online and has improved the business processes listed below by providing:

1. A tool for submitting research proposals online
2. A tool for submitting scholarship applications online
3. A tool for RUFORUM Grantees to submit their reports online
4. A tool for RUFORUM funded students to submit their reports online
5. A module for managing the database of 6,000+ RUFORUM Network contacts
6. A tool for reviewers to review submitted proposals online
7. A tool for managing the various reporting templates
8. A dashboard for the Grants Team to carry out the following tasks – review reports submitted by grantees, check proposals for compliance, assign reviewers of proposals, create calls, create profiles of new grants, manage templates and download reports
9. A dashboard for the Training Team to carry out the following tasks - review reports submitted by students, assign reviewers of scholarship applications, create calls and download reports
10. A back-end dashboard for the Technical Support Team to carry out the following tasks – create system users, assign rights to users and create reports on demand

The situation before RIMS was hectic!

1. Our processes of data capturing were inefficient: the Microsoft Word reporting templates required the researchers and students to provide static information at each reporting period – leading to duplication of efforts.
2. Our processes of information access were inefficient: there were challenges in providing data, information and knowledge for decision-making. The information could not be viewed online and was not easily accessible to other key stakeholders
3. It was difficult to monitor the implementation of our programs e.g. awarded research grants. There were challenges learning from past experiences because information was scattered on different laptops
4. Information use and sharing was inefficient – if information was required it took a significant time for it to be extracted and formatted for use

The lessons that I learned……

Lesson 1: Software development methodologies are important - Choose a robust software development methodology such as AGILE to manage project risks such as:

• Scope Creep: Agile projects add the missed requirements to the backlog, push off lesser value requirements and drop unnecessary requirements
• Requirements Error: Agile fleshes out the requirement when it is being implemented providing much more visibility and a shorter time frame to reduce costs.

Lesson 2: Online project management and managing virtual teams can be done effectively - Daily online check-ins and feedback are very useful in managing online software development projects. Online projects can be successfully implemented with African partners. The RIMS Virtual Team was based in Uganda, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Canada and other African countries where the RUFORUM Project Manager traveled to during the RIMS development. The Uganda internet speed tests were impressive:

• RUFORUM Wireless: upload = 1.53MB/s  download = 2.09MB/s (using Orange Uganda Services)
• Dongle / Modem:  upload = 0.447MB/s  download = 1.29MB/s  (using Orange Uganda Services)

Lesson 3: Do not assume that users understand their work flow - Encourage users to think more about the way that they work – use a retreat for reflection. During system testing encourage users to test the system and ensure the workflow is better understood. Involving some types of users (e.g. users from member universities) in discovery phase was perhaps premature – it would have been helpful to demonstrate other automated systems to these users in order to get useful input.

Lesson 4: Change Management during software development projects is an issue - Be patient with users. Online project management tools were foreign to most RUFORUM team members who were accustomed to face to face interactions. It was important to help users deal with their fears.

Lesson 5: The needs almost always surpass the budget available - Aim for basic functionality and improve the system as you become clearer on additional priority needs. Reduce “nice to have” functionality. Use open source software development tools. Build internal capacity for support.

Lesson 6: Think Sustainability – It became clear that there was a need for a function in the organization to handle future system changes requested by users and to administer the database. Ensure that there is a clear champion for your system – don’t rely on consultants. Ensure there is buy in from the Chief Executive Officer and the user departments.

Conclusions.......

The birth of RIMS has given the RUFORUM Secretariat a competitive edge. This is because the success of our interventions in the member universities depends on strong systems for information management, information tracking and program evaluation. Well-articulated system requirements were critical during the development of RIMS. The procurement of software development consultants was handled very carefully to ensure that a knowledgeable team was selected. We proved that online project management tools did free up funds to contribute to our software development budget needs – we were able to use travel funds to add more functionality to the system. These online project management tools included: 

1. Kanban Tool - a visual project management tool. 
2. Lopad - a public pad for recording meeting discussions 
3. Redmine - a web-based Project Management Tool written using Ruby on Rails framework.
4. Online communication tools – Skype; Group email; Virtual Network Computing – VNC over skype for virtual demonstrations and real-time progress reviews 

 Congratulations to the RUFORUM Secretariat on the birth of RIMS. May RIMS grow and bring joy to the RUFORUM Network!