Information System Planning and Selection

Our functional specialists will assist in information system (ERP) needs analysis, functional specifications, development of a Request For Proposal, evaluation of responses, vendor selection, and contract negotiations. For existing information systems, we will assess current performance and expectations against end-user needs, and develop short term and long term plans for improvement.

Representative projects:

For-Profit Education Company

39,000 students; 40 campuses

We assisted this company with the highly complex process of choosing a new ERP for whole system. A fully accredited provider of post-secondary education, this organization needed a new, integrated ERP for the entire organization. Our role was to guide the entire process, beginning with the user-based needs analysis, creating and sending out an RFP, providing vendor and marketplace information, evaluating vendor responses, coordinating software demos, supplying questions for peer-to-peer reference calls, and facilitating the process for making the final determination. We also provided advice and consultation on major ERP issues, such as the degree to which the software should be customized, the role of various campus constituencies in a successful implementation, and how to keep everyone engaged in the process through an effective communications plan.

Selective, Residential Liberal Arts College
450 students
In a highly targeted project, we facilitated this institution's selection of an administrative information system by reviewing their RFP, helping narrow their vendor choices, and negotiating a contract.

Consortium of Highly Selective, Residential Liberal Arts Colleges
3,900 students; 3 colleges
We worked with both the consortium and with each college individually to explore ways in which administrative technology and systems could be used to collaborate more effectively among themselves. We assisted each college develop an administrative information system strategy and helped one of them choose a commercial vendor.

Private University
20,000 students
We assisted this university with a full spectrum of system-selection services, from the initial needs analysis, to the creation of an RFP, to vendor evaluation, through contract negotiation. We returned to this university for two post-implementation studies.

Liberal Arts College
3,400 students
We conducted a post-implementation review for this institution. Three years prior, we assisted this college in getting its then-problematic early stages of the implementation on track and moving in the right direction. For this project, we worked with both the user community and the system vendor to make sure that the College was getting the full benefit for the resources it was expending.