Global Software Update Rollout: Global Learning Management System

Transcription

1 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October Global Software Update Rollout: Global Learning Management System Heather Budriss, Tamikia Life, Denise Sarpong, Cham Williams College of Engineering, Drexel University, USA Abstract This paper will attempt to develop a program map for a Global Learning Management System deployment in order to identify plan initiation and completion. We have identified a fictional company and project and are limited in the total information that would accompany such a project. Sponsors and stakeholders play a critical role in strategic program alignment. Additional resources may be necessary for completion of presentation documentation to ensure communication of risks, potential pitfalls, and major milestone. The Program Map truly depicts a broader view of the intricacies within the steps that are involved in the program management lifecycle. Taking the correct steps to create a unique program success path that is designed specifically for strategic goal and company alignment truly affords the chance of increased program realization. Keywords: Program Map, Sponsors, Learning Management System, Program Management Lifecycle. Introduction To effectively manage programs, program managers must establish a strategy. Programs may consist of numerous projects and tasks that can become difficult to manage in an interrelated manner to meet the goals of organizations. Strategic tools for program management therefore have become an essential in supporting the activities of program managers (Martinelli et al 2014). One such tool is the Program map that provides the program manager with an overview perspective of the program over the life of the program. The program map helps the program manager uncover interdependencies between projects. The program map takes each program deliverable, essentially the output of each project

2 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October and displays them in chronological order according to time. Then connections are made between the interdependent outputs or deliverables. This allows for critical interdependencies to be observed. A best practice for developing a program map is to engage in a work session with major stakeholders, sponsors and project managers for a program. By having everyone in one discussion, issues and topics that have an affect across projects are quickly identified. Timelines are established in such a way that the program team can observe pre requisite activities needed and to determine appropriate decision points in the program. While the program map will provide excellent governance of high level deliverables, interdependencies and major decision points, it will not provide details of the process or tasks to meet these deliverables. The high level mapping is utilized to begin the development of the program timeline. This paper will attempt to develop a program map for a global Learning Management System deployment. This will help to show how a program plan is initiated and completed. We

3 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October have identified a fictional company and project and are limited in the total information that would accompany such a project. We have accepted that while we may not identify all of the project deliverables and tasks by identifying the major deliverables and establishing the chronological order of activities we can determine the major decision points and present how the program map can be an effective strategic program management tool. Literature Review Project teams within a program utilize business goals as the foundation for establishing alignment to organizational strategy and success. According to Martinelli, Waddell, and Rahschulte, there are six steps to strategic alignment; strategic planning, informal portfolio management, program envisioning, program planning, program execution, and capability deployment (Martinelli, Waddell & Rahschulte, 2014). Strategic alignment in IT firms is imperative to ensure quality, appropriate planning procedures, and stakeholder support (Henderson & Venkatraman, 1993). In the LorryMer Corporation, roadmap charts addressed important aspects of IT ensuring defined business goals were accomplished within three years (Martinelli et al, 2014). The program roadmap included the associated business goals, value activities, and IT programs along with their interdependencies. The values of the programs were strategically valued based on their importance and connection with the overall organizational objectives (Martinelli et al, 2014). The documentation in the strategic plan incorporated snapshots of program summaries, types, and projected resources and return on investment (Martinelli et al, 2014). Integrated management systems aid IT programs to achieve strategic goals through strategy driven business results,

4 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October consistent stakeholder funding and support, and program management practices creating business value (Henderson & Venkatraman, 1993). Interfaces within deliverables support mapping cross project interdependencies for program level management (Martinelli et al, 2014). Understanding the cross-project level dependencies forge appropriate frames of reference for functional specialists and project managers. These maps enable PgM s to view a broader set of collective success through interconnected, common goals (Luftman, 1996) (Martinelli et al, 2014). Sponsors and stakeholders play a critical role in strategic program alignment. Additional resources may be necessary for completion of presentation documentation to ensure communication of risks, potential pitfalls, and major milestone accomplishments (Martinelli et al, 2014). Program maps provide clarity and visibility and a high level view of program activities useful in governance update meetings (Luftman, 1996)(Martinelli et al, 2014). A global e- learning system rollout involving Canada, the United States, and Latin America within multiple time zones in several languages encompasses a wide range of projects along with at least six months of planning. Literature suggests at strategic program alignment mapping to position successful achievement of organizational goals (Luftman, 1996). Methodology The group decided that with our collective experience being in both the pharmaceutical and Information technology area that we would best be able to provide the major deliverables and tasks for a program that involved both functional areas. We were all aware of the validated nature of pharmaceutical companies and their need to make sure employees are always trained

5 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October on relevant industry standards and standard operating procedures. We were also experienced in recognizing the effort needed to deploy a learning management system that can effectively provide all employees of a global firm with the correct information in such a manner that their daily work schedules were not significantly interrupted. As a group we scheduled a brainstorming session to agree upon the major deliverables and their chronological order and interdependencies. The session was very valuable as a wide variety of experiences and perspectives contributed to establish an appropriate list of deliverables. Research was conducted online as well as in academic journals and text books to identify best practices for developing a program map. Description and Analysis of Project The Program Manager (PgM) and his team are responsible for overseeing the management of the global implementation of the learning management system (LMS). An LMS is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning) education courses or training programs (Wikipedia, 2014). The main organizational goal of the program is to reduce operating costs and increase revenue. The PgM has oversight of this and other related projects that align to the organizations strategy, vision, objectives and scope. The program roadmap tool is developed during the initiation phase and is used by the PgM to provide a high-level chronological view of the direction of the organization and documents success criteria for chronological events (PMI, 2014). This tool is beneficial for providing status to the organizational sponsor and key stakeholders. The program roadmap includes high-level activities across a portfolio of projects.

6 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October Figure 1 displays the program management framework for several projects, and is the foundation for developing the program roadmap: Figure 1 Source: To develop the program map, project deliverables must be identified. The following project deliverables were identified for the implementation of the global LMS program Business Policy / Governance Global Requirements: Determine, document and approve the requirements for the entire global system

7 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October Global System Use SOPs: Consolidate all SOPs and create Global SOPs that govern major use of the system Local System Use SOPs: Identify local specific features or issues and document SOPs to manage these local differences Software Core Configuration: Determine and implement the global configurations needed to satisfy the core needs of the business Feature Configuration: Determine and implement the site specific configurations needed to satisfy the local needs of the business Custom Field Changes: Identify, configure and deploy custom fields needed for distribution of global training material Content Storage Planning: Establish and deploy the needed physical and virtual storage space to sustain global distribution of training material Electronic Document Management Feeds: establish and deploy electronic feeds of training materials from electronic document managements systems Language Testing / Translations: configure and test the implementation of on demand translations to meet the global demand for training documents Validation Core Validation: Confirm and document that all core functionality has been implemented in a compliant manner established by the combined requirements of authoritative agencies

8 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October Feature Validation: Confirm and document that all site specific local functionality has been implemented in a compliant manner established by the local authoritative agency. System Release: Complete multiple deployments of the new system to all relevant sits globally. Once these deliverables were determined the team identified the chronological order for each functional area and the interdependencies and created a program map The program roadmap is a valuable tool for managing program execution and for accessing program progress (PMI, 2014). Figure 2 displays the Global LMS Program Roadmap:

9 GLOBAL SOFTWARE UPDATE ROLLOUT Global LMS program map Software Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Core Configuration Feature Configuration Custom Field Changes Content Storage Planning Electronic Document Management Feeds Language Testing / Business Policy / Governance Global Requirements Global System Use SOPs Local System Use SOPs Validation Core Validation Feature System Release Figure 2- Learning Management System Program Map

10 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October The characteristics of a program roadmap as defined by Businessdocs, 2014 are: 1. Communicates project plans at a glance provides high-level status to PgM, sponsor and stakeholders 2. Demonstrates the use of the capacity you have available provides overall utilization of resources to prevent overlap 3. Draws attention to important issues brings risks and issues to the surface for mitigation 4. Gives you a tool to manage upwards suited for upper management distribution and review As it relates to the LMS implementation, the program roadmap will allow the PgM to communicate the characteristics above to the sponsor and executive leadership, throughout the life of the program and projects. The PgM will also provide oversight of the following related projects: establish post-deployment operations and maintenance support to accommodate users and local and global locations build new interfaces between single repository and the LMS validate the quality toolkit and other tools to support future deployment data migration and import to the LMS establish a standard usage governance model Summary Overall, outlining and detailing a Program Map as a Program Manager are critical components to being able to see all of the "high-level strategic directions and dependencies" of a program in chronological order. It has provided us with an integrated view of our overall

11 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October strategies and has proven to be useful in communicating program timelines, as they are visualized in a graph instead of just being written down. The Program Map truly depicts a broader view of what really goes on within the steps that are involved in the program management lifecycle. We ve learned that in order to be a successful program manager, it is critical that one is involved from the very beginning of the process. This ranges from: being heavily involved from the very beginning, to creating the program road map, to defining the program definition, to day to day management, to the conclusion of the program s delivery, program closure, and lessons learned. We also learned that the program roadmap (known as a general guided trail of steps), is what is needed to put a project or program manager s program on the right track for success (Bryne et al, 2014). We ve also learned to stress the importance of communication throughout a program s lifecycle, as well as the benefits of properly recording lessons learned. The team concept has also been an important part of this process as well. For example, a team s constant communication to drive the program to its completion, on schedule, on or under budget, and with a high quality product has been a valuable take-away and lessons learned for future programs and projects. We also noted that a program is not done when the core deliverables are completed, as there are final reports to write up for stakeholders and upper management, dispositions to be made, and knowledge to be transferred. Lastly, we also learned that the key to creating a successful program map is to keep it simple and not to weigh it down with lots of lower level detail that causes confusion for program sponsors, stakeholders, and /or high level executives. The steps to the Program Roadmap are as follows: Program Roadmap

12 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October As a program manager, there are five steps one must take to get to the point where a complete program roadmap can be created. These five steps are as follows: 1. Develop a polished current state understanding of the program. For example, what are the goals of the program both strategic and quantifiable? Examples: Your cost drivers Functional needs Business artifacts Business processes 2. Define what the program aspires to be in its end state (i.e. current vs. desired end state) Examples: Your performance goals and or targets Guiding Principals 3. Run a Gap Analysis with the team: Example: Where the program is now compared to where it wants to be in the end. This will reveal all the activities that need to be addressed to get there. This should be done for the following: organizationally, functionally, technically, and for process. 4. Prioritization effort - (i.e. what needs to be done)? Example: Take the list of the action items found by doing the gap analysis and determine "what is feasible and what has the highest business value". It is important to keep the program's defined period of performance in mind while doing this. Stay realistic towards both budget and schedule. 5. Determine the best sequence of events - (i.e. what's the order in which events are completed)?

13 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October Example: Clearly define the dependencies, what needs to start before everything else, what is the critical path? Is this sequence doable with the resources available to the program team? Be realistic. Create the program roadmap Know exactly what gets done, when, and in what order, visually (on a graph) Perform final edits and corrections Get buy in from program sponsor Conclusion Through our scholarly research, we ve discovered lessons learned (both the successes and failures) regarding the path of a program. This general path through each stage of a program/project lifecycle makes it easier for program managers to more quickly start off on the right track, be more efficient in terms of schedule and budget, and spend less time concerning about what their next steps should be. It was interesting to see how a successful program path can be developed by mature businesses to fit their unique and distinct needs. This successful program path truly helps program plans to fit into real world program requirements. Taking the correct steps to create a unique program success path that is designed specifically for strategic goal and company alignment truly affords the chance of increased program realization. By following the above steps to create a program roadmap, program managers are already on the road to success (Byrne et al, 2014).

14 Journal of IT and Economic Development 5(2), 18-31, October References Armstrong, J. (2014). Creating a project roadmap. Retrieved December 5, 2014 from Byrne, K., Keys, R., Schaffer, C., & Solic, A. N. (2014). How to prepare a program roadmap. Journal of Economic Development, Management, I T, Finance, and Marketing, 6(1), Retrieved from Henderson, J., Venkatraman, N. (1993). Strategic Alignment: Leveraging Information Technology for Transforming Organizations. IBM Systems Journal. 32:1. Pages 4. Luftman, J. (1996). Competing in the Information Age: Strategic Alignment in Practice. Oxford University Press. New York, New York. Martinelli, R., Waddell, J., Rahschulte, T. (2014). Program Management for Improved Business Results. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ. Project Management Institute. (2013). The standard for program management (3rd ed.). Newtown Square, PA: The Project Management Institute. Wikipedia. (2014). Learning management system. Retrieved December 4, 2014 from Acknowledgment We would like to thank Dr. Victor Sohmen (Project Management Program, College of Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA), for guiding, reviewing and editing this work for publication.