IT Requests and General Business Case Process

[StephenPink]

Hi all,

 

Just trying to figure out a better way to do things and wondered what others do, when there are requests for IT "things" or more generally with projects across site. What does a business case look like for you? How many stages does it have/who approves what?

 

How can I make something that teachers can actually complete themselves, i.e the starting point of identifying the need, that can then lead on to others input (or not if rejected at this stage). Our current "template" is too wordy and complicated, so that teachers can't fill most of it out - which creates a lot of work for me. Equally, costs are in there, which I don't think they should be at the start - as the legwork to get the costs is wasted if the request is going to be rejected for other reasons.

 

Feel like I must be trying to reinvent the wheel, but haven't found anything that isn't too "big" - as in large building project proposals. Want to try and come up with something that is simple, and can scale up if and when required - and so that we have a record of why things were purchased etc.

 

Hope that all makes sense? It's a Monday so brain may not be engaged fully!

[djm968]

Google or Microsoft Form? Using a survey type of approach to capture the requirements could be a good starting point. You can configure the form to capture the exact requirements in the format you need. I would also try to align any "business case" with the appropriate DfE Digital Standards.

[Oaktech]

Staff meet with me in the first instance to ensure $Thing cannot be done with anything pre-existing, and if it can't, I check $Thing out to ensure that it is technically feasible and is compliant with our various obligations (like GDPR). Staff are then invited to draw up a business case on a pro-forma word doc. They have to attach medium term planning to support how they are going to use $Thing, and for how long. The Business case goes to SLT, and SLT shoot me an email to ensure I have actually said that it can't be done with anything pre-existing, and then it gets approved or denied.

 

About half the things that staff meet with me for can be at least partially done with something we already have - for example making a proposal viable by installing an app from playstore on our existing chromebook fleet to support 15 data loggers instead of also requesting 15 £250 tablets to support the dataloggers, because they didn't know the Chromebooks had bluetooth. SLT approved 15 dataloggers, but would not have approved the additional tablets. Everyone wins & I don't have to set up yet another MDM!

[enjay]

Staff meet with me in the first instance to ensure $Thing cannot be done with anything pre-existing, and if it can't, I check $Thing out to ensure that it is technically feasible and is compliant with our various obligations (like GDPR). Staff are then invited to draw up a business case on a pro-forma word doc. They have to attach medium term planning to support how they are going to use $Thing, and for how long. The Business case goes to SLT, and SLT shoot me an email to ensure I have actually said that it can't be done with anything pre-existing, and then it gets approved or denied.

 

That's roughly how things go here too, but without the template document, the HOD just discusses it with their SLT link. A pro forma would be good to ensure all basic questions are covered (and to add some accountability for how they'll adopt $Thing and make sure they're using it in 12 months. Care to share yours?

[StephenPink]

Thanks all so far - yes if anyone is able to share examples that would be hugely helpful. I'm struggling to find the balance between simple and meeting all the requirements...

[Davit2005]

Staff meet with me in the first instance to ensure $Thing cannot be done with anything pre-existing, and if it can't, I check $Thing out to ensure that it is technically feasible and is compliant with our various obligations (like GDPR). Staff are then invited to draw up a business case on a pro-forma word doc. They have to attach medium term planning to support how they are going to use $Thing, and for how long. The Business case goes to SLT, and SLT shoot me an email to ensure I have actually said that it can't be done with anything pre-existing, and then it gets approved or denied.

 

About half the things that staff meet with me for can be at least partially done with something we already have - for example making a proposal viable by installing an app from playstore on our existing chromebook fleet to support 15 data loggers instead of also requesting 15 £250 tablets to support the dataloggers, because they didn't know the Chromebooks had bluetooth. SLT approved 15 dataloggers, but would not have approved the additional tablets. Everyone wins & I don't have to set up yet another MDM!

 

^^ This is a good approach. face to face (feasibility and determine if anything in place), business decision (benefit, cost, etc.) , confirmation and approval process.

[dmj]

Staff meet with me in the first instance to ensure $Thing cannot be done with anything pre-existing, and if it can't, I check $Thing out to ensure that it is technically feasible and is compliant with our various obligations (like GDPR). Staff are then invited to draw up a business case on a pro-forma word doc. They have to attach medium term planning to support how they are going to use $Thing, and for how long. The Business case goes to SLT, and SLT shoot me an email to ensure I have actually said that it can't be done with anything pre-existing, and then it gets approved or denied.

 

About half the things that staff meet with me for can be at least partially done with something we already have - for example making a proposal viable by installing an app from playstore on our existing chromebook fleet to support 15 data loggers instead of also requesting 15 £250 tablets to support the dataloggers, because they didn't know the Chromebooks had bluetooth. SLT approved 15 dataloggers, but would not have approved the additional tablets. Everyone wins & I don't have to set up yet another MDM!

 

Sounds a sensible approach, but I worry that it lends itself to staff 'solutionising' the problem. In your example, rather than stating that the curriculum needs (eg that students must be able to record temperature, pressure, mass over a long period of time) are they encouraged to present a solution to buy a specific brand of data loggers?. I expect the form to encourage staff to explain the problem rather than give them an opportunity to present the solution - if they don't have that opportunity you may end up with something that fits the whole school better rather than something that eg fulfils a requirement for science, but not maths, DT, geography (for example)

[enjay]

Sounds a sensible approach, but I worry that it lends itself to staff 'solutionising' the problem. In your example, rather than stating that the curriculum needs (eg that students must be able to record temperature, pressure, mass over a long period of time) are they encouraged to present a solution to buy a specific brand of data loggers?. I expect the form to encourage staff to explain the problem rather than give them an opportunity to present the solution

 

The form / conversation with IT Manager needs to through Why? How? What? in that order:

Why - why are we doing this? So students can get a better understanding of temperature, pressure, mass...

How - how do we want to do it? By enabling students to see realtime data during practicals

What - what product or solution can assist with this? Data loggers. Brand X would be best because they're cheaper/more functionality/better compatibility with our network.

[dmj]

The form / conversation with IT Manager needs to through Why? How? What? in that order:

Why - why are we doing this? So students can get a better understanding of temperature, pressure, mass...

How - how do we want to do it? By enabling students to see realtime data during practicals

What - what product or solution can assist with this? Data loggers. Brand X would be best because they're cheaper/more functionality/better compatibility with our network.

 

I'd always leave out the 'what'. It's how you get those crazy white elephants. It's what they pay it managers for.

[enjay]

I'd always leave out the 'what'. It's how you get those crazy white elephants. It's what they pay it managers for.

 

In isolation, that's probably true but I think the white elephants come when you start with the "what" rather than end with it. In this process, you need SLT to approve the "why", the "how" and the HOD's statement on how they will ensure $Thing continues to be used. Then you eventually need "what" because you need to know which brand of $Thing to buy.

[Oaktech]

Sounds a sensible approach, but I worry that it lends itself to staff 'solutionising' the problem. In your example, rather than stating that the curriculum needs (eg that students must be able to record temperature, pressure, mass over a long period of time) are they encouraged to present a solution to buy a specific brand of data loggers?. I expect the form to encourage staff to explain the problem rather than give them an opportunity to present the solution - if they don't have that opportunity you may end up with something that fits the whole school better rather than something that eg fulfils a requirement for science, but not maths, DT, geography (for example)

 

That's fair, but much of that is what the pro-forma details and is the grounds for the approval from a member of senior curriculum staff. The example was recent and simple.

 

There have been ocasions where following discussion with me and filling in the proforma has led to a much wider discussion around how we do $OtherThing stimulated by someone in SLT who has a much wider overview than I, or the requesting member of staff.

 

I've asked if I can share our pro-forma but I haven't heard back yet, and I'm going to have to debrand it quite hard!

[StephenPink]

Thanks all so far - this is all echoing my own internal thoughts and discussions so great to get others views!

 

Exactly what's being said is what I'm hoping to resolve - making that first step, the WHY, the key piece that kicks off (or doesn't!) the rest of the process - and what/how much details need to be captured at that stage.

 

One piece that I've found conflicting guidance on is costs - on one hand, if the NEED is there, then cost is irrelevant? However, especially being education, cost and budgets are a huge factor, and affect the options available...

[Oaktech]

 

One piece that I've found conflicting guidance on is costs - on one hand, if the NEED is there, then cost is irrelevant? However, especially being education, cost and budgets are a huge factor, and affect the options available...

 

There are very few needs that can be accomodated regardless of cost!

 

Some of what I do with requests for $Thing is not for immediate purchse, it's to be included in a bid for budget. In an ideal world it should always run as below, but we know that isn't true.

 

Our financial year is based on the academic year rather than the financial, so for us, budget bids are submitted in June for approval or revision in July. Some projects are then approved for the summer and paid for in september when the new money arrives, some are only begun in september and staff are asked to arrange their planning acordingly if $Thing is not going to be purchased and ready until spring term.

 

It's worth also mentioning that my finance dept allow projects to borrow from other budgets with the budget holders knowledge if the project documents show relevant benefits.

 

Recent example: A software suite primarily fulfills requirements of the ICT curriculum - coding, image manipulation, animation, blogging etc but is several hundred pounds out of budget for ICT. We are able to show a cross curricular benefit to Maths and Science as the software allows for statistics, graphing, data analysis etc. The SLT members doing the validation will speak to various departmental or subject leads to decide if there is a curriculum requirement to be filled and planning can be adapted to use those facilities. Mostly with agreement, budget can be acquired from other departments.

[PotNoodleTech]

One piece that I've found conflicting guidance on is costs - on one hand, if the NEED is there, then cost is irrelevant? However, especially being education, cost and budgets are a huge factor, and affect the options available...

 

It would be naïve to say that need is all that matters. Need always has to be balanced by can we afford it? Something that the credit card payday loan PCP car rental generation(s) of today have completely lost sight of .

 

Clearly a company can't just decide to spend an unaffordable amount of money on something just because they need it. If a school turns over 2 million a year and 1.7 million goes on staff costs then it's going to be literally impossible for the school to afford something that costs a million quid no matter how you cut it, no matter how you pay for it, no matter how many years you lease it for, it's still just plain unaffordable.

 

So sometimes the answer has to be no.

[enjay]

One piece that I've found conflicting guidance on is costs - on one hand, if the NEED is there, then cost is irrelevant? However, especially being education, cost and budgets are a huge factor, and affect the options available...

 

With the possible exception of safeguarding (and marketing in an independent school!), no-one has a blank cheque. The cost of $Thing has to be weighed against the available budget (as @PotNoodleTech says, some costs are simply inaccessible) and the impact on other areas; if all the available money is spent on $Thing1 for Science, what would the impact be for Maths not being able to get $Thing2? Maybe Department A could be given $ExpensiveThing this year on the understanding that all further requests for the next 3 years will be turned down.

[MatthewL]

What do you want to do, what do you want to achieve at the end of it are my two questions, as what they want to acheive by what they want to do doesn't always add up so you can then chip in and say to achieve you need to do x, y and z in simple terms.