Working across the “rainbow”

In my post on 15 June I included a diagram of the different “strands” of work which are part of the LMS project.  These include governance, procurement, change management, technology and project implementation.  Each group is identified by a different colour & in the office many of us have a copy of the rainbow diagram pinned up at our desk to remind us about each part of the project.  For me, I keep an eye on making sure that I am "working across the rainbow" - i.e. making sure that each part of the project is being attended to.

I thought I would give you an update across each of these areas, noting that some of the work being undertaken is still confidential & can’t be released at this time.

Governance:  We have received approval from the Libraries Board for the key principles and structures that will form the governance structure of the project.  This includes the establishment of a transitional user group to operate during the implementation phase as well as a final elected user group which will form as the project moves from implementation to business as usual.

The Transitional User Group will be made up of a few representatives from the current Interim User Group as well as those libraries which will take up the LMS during this financial year.  This means that early adopters will be the majority of people around the table.  However this does not mean that they will be making decisions without formal and extensive consultation with the whole network to ensure that the decisions being recommended are firmly grounded in advice from all who wish to contribute.

The User Group will be answerable to the Libraries Board’s existing PLS Standing Committee where recommendations will be considered and ratified.

It is planned to form up the Transitional User Group within the next few weeks.  In the near future I will have more to say about the role for this group over the next few months.

Procurement:  This continues apace, and in accordance with the Evaluation Plan.  I would like to thank the 80 + people involved in the Subject Matter Expert groups and in the Evaluation Team for their commitment in both time and expertise.  Their advice and attention to detail has been invaluable. 

We remain on track for a decision being made and an announcement in October.  At this time we should also be able to announce the capital joining fee for each council and the planned annual subscription costs as well. 

As we are still in the selection process I can’t say too much more here, but look forward to the process finishing so that we can discuss the thoroughness of the process and what we found along the way.

Change Management:  Well my last post was about the appointment of our Change Manager.  Jo has been busy developing the change management plan for the whole project as well as some indicative timelines for the libraries that will join the program during this financial year.  We have also updated our project charter to reflect the implementation stage of the project.  A version of this will be put onto the Intranet soon.  We have developed the job specification for the Library Systems person which will be advertised soon.  This person will work alongside Jo and closely with each library when we get into the nitty gritty of data conversions etc.

Technology:  Lyal has sent each library a survey which will help us to get a better understanding of each library’s needs.  If these could be returned ASAP that would be great.
We also have an expert group looking at the bandwidth requirements for each of the shortlisted LMSs, so that we can map this against our current network & make sure that we can provide each library with dedicated bandwidth to run their LMS effectively.

Project Implementation:  Not much has occurred in this area apart from the point mentioned in the change management space about getting ready to advertise for a library specialist / project officer.  As soon as we have a system chose it will be full steam ahead in this area!

I will provide you with more detail on all of these areas in the near future.  I will particularly provide greater detail regarding the governance & decision making space in a few days.