Management Information Developments – Towards an Integrated Planning Tool

Providing the information to make decisions

Russell Group University

4,700 Staff

3 Faculties and Professional Services

16 Schools/Research Institutes

54 Subjects

Over 2,500

programmes

19,500 Students on Campus6,000 Overseas Students on Campus

Largest

European

provider

of online

degrees

8,000 Postgraduate Online

Students in 130 countries 6,500 Students Studyingfor a UoL Degree Overseas (exc. Online)

Annual Turnover£147million

£125million Research Income

£15million in

Bursaries + Scholarships

each year

£600m Capital Investment

Changing World of HE

• Students are paying £9k fees;

• Nationally, student numbers are falling;

• Competition is on a local, national and global scale;

• Government funding is being reduced;

• Research income is harder to come by;

• Expectations of the student experience are high.

Planning is incredibly complex... And it has never been more important that we do it well.

MI PROVISIONOverall Vision – ‘One Version of the Truth’.

MI JOURNEYWhat’s been covered so far?

• Data Warehouse• Performance Dashboards• Analysis Tools (Explorer)

What do we use this for?• Quarterly Performance Reporting• Planning and Performance Cycle• Management Reports• Management Meetings• Funding Applications

Gathering Data

PlanningPerformance Reporting

Our Vision for the Future of Planning at UoL

“To further develop and progress the University’s move to business intelligence and to an integrated and holistic approach to planning”

• Informed planning (business intelligence);

• Strategic planning;

• Automated integrated resource planning;

• A faster, more efficient process;

• Remove risk of single-person reliance;

• Move away from unstable large Excel databases;

• Ownership of plans and a better understanding of data that informs them by

Managers;

• A more manageable process – version control and audit trails – Professional

Services are able to focus on analysis and ensuring a strategic approach.

Our Vision - What does the Planning Tool need to do?The planning tool must enable the following:• Recording and forecasting staff FTE, linked to total cost (e.g. equipment);• Modelling of student numbers linked to HEFCE grant and fee income;• Scenario Planning and the ability to easily link activity types (e.g. impact of

student numbers on staff);• Recording and forecasting research income and expenditure, including KE;• Recording and forecasting balance, cash flow, I&E; and• Recording and planning capital expenditure.

 

It is essential that the following functions are incorporated:• Annotation;• Audit trail;• Aggregation and disaggregation of information;• Integration with the other systems (MI etc); and• Capturing and linking all targets (from strategic Key Ambitions to Faculty Activity

Plans).

Why Choose TM1?

• Usability – User friendly interfaces;

• Compatibility with existing MI products (SAP);

• Flexibility and Future Proofing – The ability to change the structure in the

future to reflect (as yet unknown) changes;

• Development of in-house expertise to ensure sustainability of the product;

• Data Cubes – the ability to slice and dice data;

• Ability to link data cubes to arrive at an integrated resource planning tool;

• Sandboxing – empowering managers to manipulate their own data for

scenario planning. Better informed plans, owned by Managers.

TM1 is more than a tool for producing an I&E. We believe that it is a the

product that has the potential to be a powerful tool for truly integrated planning.

Why did we choose Barrachd?

•A quick understanding of the complexity of the project – this is not a tool

for producing an I&E;

•Open minded approach to solving the problem – always questioning

existing processes;

•A flexible approach to developing the project – iterative and agile – we all

know that things are likely to change along the way;

•An understanding of the HE Sector – but also a fresh approach.