What is considered 'New Technology'?
New technology is considered as any technology product or solution that is not currently in-service at SMU or supported by an SMU service organization such as IT, Media Services, Facilities, Library Services, or an outside vendor. This principle can be applied to equipment hardware platforms, software products, and information systems.
View the full list of SMU supported technology products
What is considered a 'Project'?
A project is a discrete work effort that requires more than 40 business hours to complete.
All projects involving the adoption of new technology must adhere to this process
All projects have a designated 'sponsor', or individual primary stakeholder, who will be involved with the project through each phase to ensure that stakeholders' needs are effectively fulfilled
All projects have a designated 'project manager', or primary liaison to all involved parties, who is responsible for ensuring that the project is completed on time, on budget, and on scope
Work efforts requiring less than 40 business hours to complete will be treated as service requests and fall into the categories of support, maintenance, or minor enhancements.
The Process
- New Technology Request (requires approval from the division head) - allows the advocate, an SMU employee or student, to demonstrate a need for technology innovation as it affects learning or business processes. Submitted requests are received by the IT Program Coordinator. Upon receipt of a request, the Program Coordinator will make contact with the advocate and initiate a high level assessment of the request to acquire relevant information about scope, timing, and impact.
Submit a New Technology Request - IT Baseline Assessment - the IT Leadership group meets every other Tuesday morning to evaluate new technology requests and recommends actions for effectively meeting the requirements outlined in the request. At this phase we focus on:
- What is the required scope, functionality, outcomes, and benefits?
- What SMU or Sutter Health information resources are in place now that will meet required deliverables?
- Which strategic priority and initiative would this solution fulfill?
- What is the cost of utilizing an existing solution?
- What are the apparent risks of pursuing the desired outcome?
- Project Proposal - if a new technology requests meets project criteria, a project proposal is drafted by the advocate and submitted to the Technology Committee for consideration. The project proposal should include: identification of a distinct business challenge, description of a vision or desired outcome, explanation of how new technology could fulfill the vision, summarize research efforts related to technology solutions, provide an overview of affected parties.
Submit a Project Proposal - Technology Committee Review - all project proposals are reviewed by the SMU Technology Committee. This group consists of representatives from all areas of the institution who provide insight and perspective on how proposed project may impact the operations of the university. At this phase committee members:
- Provide feedback on scope and strategic benefit to the institution
- Coordinate additional exploration/vetting by key stakeholders and end users
- Recommend project priorities based on technology strategy
- Share information with divisional/departmental constituents
- Product/Solution Research - Research potential solutions and identify viable candidates by evaluating product features, costs, adaptability, integration with technology infrastructure. At this phase, thorough business process and risk analyses are conducted by representatives from Information Technology Services and/or Academic & Instructional Innovation
- Evaluation - product is tested first hand by actual users through a product proof-of-concept, pilot testing, or evaluation process.
- Recommendation - A formal recommendation for a solution is presented by the IT Director and/or Library Director to the vetting bodies, based on project scope. Endorsement by vetting body is required before the project is scheduled for implementation.
SCOPE
VETTING BODY
A single user
Department Head
A single department/academic program
Division Vice President
Multiple departments/functional areas
Division Heads
Students/Faculty of specific program(s)
Program Deans/Chairs
All Faculty
Academic Council
All Students
VPESS, Academic Council, SBA
All SMU
President's Council
- Project Charter - The project charter is the defining document for project scope, resources, and timelines. The charter drives decisions on specific requirements, selection of products and vendor partnerships, key personnel including project sponsor and project manager, task development and assignment, milestone definition, and success factors. The IT Department coordinates authoring of all project charters.
- Project Funding - This is a critical piece of the project planning process, and can often create significant delays in the timing of new system deployments. In some cases, technology projects are purposed for replacing existing resources in the environment. For these, funding is typically built in to the operating budget already, or falls within the scope of ongoing capital improvements. Projects that do not have a pre-identified funding source require funding through the university's annual budgeting process or through a restricted funding source. Through the annual budgeting process, project funding could take 8-20 months to become available.
- Implementation - The implementation phase includes development and execution of a detailed project plan, based on availability of the resources defined in the project charter.
- Project Sign-Off - At the conclusion of the implementation phase, the project manager presents the project sponsor with a detailed checklist of deliverables, summary of responsibilities for administrators and end users, any relevant system documentation, and procedures for acquiring technical support and additional training. At the completion of the project sign-off, the new technology is incorporated into the list of supported products under the IT Service Level Agreement.
