Sustainability & Business Models

Gill Joy – ESYS plc

Oscar Struijve – Education for Change

Sustainability & Business Models

Introduction Findings from ESYS and EFC studies Models Q&A and Discussion Participants’ examples of useful models

Sustainability & Business Models

Sustainability Study:

Common Services and Digital Infrastructure

ESYS plc

PortAhead Sustainability Study:

Portals

Education for Change Ltd

University of Wales Institute Cardiff

Overview of ESYS study

Service assessments

Outputs & benefits

Stakeholders & linkages

Activities & roles

IESR/ JOIN-UP DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

•Fit with wider IE

•Likely take-up

•Project > service transition

•Impact of new roles

Recommendations for projects

Recommendations for wider

communities

Wider IE issues

Emerging Framework

issues

Sustainability models

Sustainability – key issues

Routes to sustainability

External dynamics

Criteria for sustainability

Roles, structures, processes

Creating value

External dynamics

•Trends and dynamics of funding modalities

•Timescale set for funding programme strategic goals

•Breadth of markets to be addressed

•Changing external standards

•Market entry strategies of a range of commercial players

•Decisions by major players (eg BL, OCLC etc)

Criteria - Primary

Competitiveness - Adds value- Cost effective

Availability - Ease of access- Simple use/concept

Reliability - Consistent quality

ScalabilityAffordabilityVisibilityOpen standardsInstitutional acceptance

Criteria - Secondary

Factors such as:

Innovation

Knowledge transfer

Impacts on working practices

Staff training

Embedding

Organisational impacts

Roles, Structures, Processes - PROJECTS

PROCESSES

•Embedding in other IE and JISC services needs support

•Influencing commercial players is a barrier

•No funding for scaling up or technology shift

ROLES•Business/commercial skills•Understanding of “service readiness”•Few entrepreneurial leaders

STRUCTURES•Projects (and institutions?) not geared to service delivery•Ownership and risk issues not clear at project level

Roles, Structures, Processes - JISC

PROCESSES

•No overall business/technology management process

•Need to manage expectations of sustainability

•Earlier engagement with commercial sector

•Support to projects for sustainability planning

ROLES

•JISC cannot mandate use of ICT services

• Tension between R&D role and supporting services

•Need market/business roles in development groups

STRUCTURES

• JISC is not a business

• No technology investment/business group

•No structure to manage project:service transition

Routes to sustainability

Interesting project but no continuation of funding

•Outputs used as training tool •Outputs exploited internally by partner institutions•By-products continue to be used / are further developed•Work leads to follow-on project under separate funding

Routes to sustainability

Catalytic effect – project outcomes influence other JISC developments

•Help make more informed specifications for other products/services•Contribution to open source solution

Routes to sustainability

Elements of project IPR exploited

•Software supported but not available as full product or service•Publications, surveys•Methodologies formalised and further developed•Early standards formulation

Routes to sustainability

Project becomes a fully funded JISC Service

•New service in own right•Additional component for existing JISC service

Routes to sustainability

Project becomes self-supporting service

•Public/private funding mix •Fully commercial•Core elements free and premium elements paying

Routes to sustainability: a question …

What is it then, that JISC should try to put on the route(s) to sustainability?

•Grounding in user / stakeholder needs•Portfolio mapping / gapping: feasibility studies and risk assessment•Cost/benefit analysis•Articulate expectations => where is the road supposed to ‘end’ for specific activities?

Models to support JISC planning

•JISC Technology/Business planning

•JISC products/services portfolio

• Engagement Adoption and Sustainability

•Project assessment model

•Classic business model

JISC Strategy

Technology Strategy

Service Development Strategy

Adapt current services/systems

Undertake R&D project

Develop new service/system

Leave to marketplace

Maintain current services/systems

Investment plan – Technology implementation plan – Business models

Procurement (int or ext)

Development Programme

Service level agreement

Service Dev fund

MARKETNEEDS

Technology & investment planning

Em

bedding in IE

Critical mass of usersLow

High

High

JISC Service fully funded

Self sustaining service

Fully funded pilot/demo

JISC endorsed service

JISC product/service portfolio

Em

bedding in IE

Critical mass of usersLow

High

High

IESR

Zetoc

Docusend

X-GrainBALSA

Open URL Router

JISC product/service portfolio

Em

bedding in IE

Critical mass of usersLow

High

High

IESR

Zetoc

Docusend

X-GrainBALSA

Open URL Router

JISC product/service portfolio

Embed in portals

Include commercial targets

Increase user base

Engagement Adoption and Sustainability

From: Intro to Sustainable Portals - GUIDELINES FOR PORTAL PLANNING

http://docs.communitye.net/engage_adopt_sustain/guidelines_html

From idea to sustained provision …

From: Intro to Sustainable Portals - THE BUILDING BLOCKS TO SUSTAINABILITY

http://docs.communitye.net/engage_adopt_sustain/building_blocks_html

Research

Learning and teaching

Administration

Knowledge transfer Other

contexts

Project sustainability assessment

Competitive advantage

Cost to scale-up

Leverages other JISC

investments

Market demand

Project sustainability assessment

Classic business model

Technical inputs:

•feasibility

•performance

Business model

•Market

•Value proposition

•Value chain

•Cost and profit

•Value network

•Competitive strategy

Economic outputs:

•value

•price

•profit

Method of doing business by which a company sustains itself – that is, generates revenue

Discussion topics

Needs analysis and business case development

How to scope and develop the business case for projects and services - two aspects in particular:

do participants believe that the activities funded / explored in these areas address HE/FE needs?; how is / can this be ensured?

is the current system of JISC calls and community responses seen as a good and transparent way of focussing development effort in the areas of portals and Common Services and Digital

Infrastructure? Alternatives / refinements possible?

Discussion topics

Need for new JISC processes and funding mechanisms

What new JISC processes, organisational structures and funding mechanisms are needed to manage sustainability and expectations throughout the programme/project lifecycle?