The myYC portal project is a complex one involving most all areas of the College and all of the different College constituents - from students to faculty to staff and beyond. The portal project is a part of the larger ERP project, which officially kicked off in December, 2007. The portal project planning efforts started in January and February of 2008, with the official kickoff happening in March 2008. We expect the project itself to continue through at least the end of 2010, and to make it easier for everyone to know what's going on, we've divided the project into phases:
The first phase of the portal project involves significant planning efforts; the purchase, installation, and customization of the hardware and software supporting the portal environment; training of technical, content management teams, and portal users; development of policies and procedures; and initial development of all portal content. Additionally, non-portal technical projects that will impact the portal are included in our Phase 1 definition, including the development of student email, the conversion of staff and faculty email to a new product, and necessary updates to existing systems to support the portal. Phase 1 will also see the official launch of our new portal.
The second phase of the portal project will see updates to portal content based on feedback after the launch. We expect to launch additional channels during this project phase for targeted or specific audiences. Depending on timing, an update to the portal software may also be installed at this time. The first integration with our new Banner ERP system will take place during this phase.
The third phase of the portal project will continue to see refinements to channels, the addition of new channels and dashboards for specific audiences, and additional integration with the new Banner ERP system. During this phase, we may also evaluate significant technical changes to the systems supporting the portal environment.
The fourth phase of the portal project will continue to see both channel development and refinements as well as continued integration with the Banner ERP system. By this time the Banner ERP system will be almost fully-implemented throughout the College and many features for students and faculty will be available as a result. Depending on timing, a major software update to the portal system may take place during this phase.
The fifth and final planned phase of the portal consists of integrating the last of the Banner ERP system into the portal. This will unlock many new features for staff, faculty, and student employees. Updates to channels will continue as in earlier phases. If the portal software wasn't updated during Phase 4, it will likely be done during Phase 5 and you may see significant changes in the look and feel and available features after the update is completed. Beyond this phase, routine updates will be made to channels, dashboards, and other portal content as well as updates to the portal software on an as-needed basis.
As of June 5, 2008 over 1063 hours have been spent on meetings, trainings, and planning efforts related to the myYC portal project. That's over one-half year of work for a normal person in only just over two months! Over 100 individuals have attended an informational or feedback session and a subset of those are actively involved in daily and weekly planning related to the project.