Dear Colleagues,
As you may be aware, the Board of Trustees approved the District-wide Technology Strategic Master Plan (DTSMP) at the May 23, 2022 Board meeting. One key initiative outlined in the DTSMP involves reviewing the District’s ERP solution which is currently comprised of Workday for Human Resources and Business Services, and a home-grown Student Information System (SIS). Consequently, we will compare our current ERP solution with a single ERP solution (Banner) as a possible replacement for both Workday and SIS. The review process will be initiated during the summer intersession in preparation for fall governance discussions.
What should you expect?
You will be invited to Banner product demonstrations, and based on your specific role, you may also be asked to participate in detailed, user-specific business process assessment and alignment sessions.
Why Banner?
The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC) has a CollegeBuys agreement with Ellucian (parent company for Banner) that guarantees discounts of up to 20 percent on Ellucian products and allows for procurement of solutions without going through a bid process. Additionally, 80 percent of California Community Colleges currently use Ellucian ERP solutions, therefore Banner has a robust California specific user support network.
ERP Decision-Making Process:
Strategic Pause: May – June 2022
- Review and prioritize new and ongoing Workday and SIS development projects for temporary hold during the evaluation period
• Note: Many projects will continue - Business process analysis and cost analysis for current operations
- Vice Chancellor-led governance road show
Banner Evaluation and Comparison: June – October 2022
- Product demonstrations, including costs and time estimates
- User-specific product demonstrations
- Reference checks, including costs and time actuals
- Determine college and District Services readiness for large change initiative
- User-specific product review with multiple sandboxes
- Surveys, governance and user focus groups
- Decision (Proceed with status quo or change ERP)
- Vice Chancellor-led governance road show
- Recommendation to the Board of Trustees
Tentative Summer Schedule (Zoom meetings):
- June 22, 10:00am - 12:00pm: Banner overview demonstration for all constituents
- July 12: Banner discovery meetings (45 – 90-minute area-specific sessions)
- July 26 and July 27: Detailed product demonstrations (three to six-hour sessions per area)
We will consult with the managers in each area and forward additional dates and scheduling information in the coming weeks. Please note that you will be invited to sessions to review Banner and additional sessions to review Workday and/or SIS for comparison purposes. We look forward to seeing you at product demonstration and comparison sessions during the summer and beginning of the fall term when the faculty return. Thanks in advance for your participation and contributions to the decision-making process.
Take care,
Chris McDonald