Kingston University is a forward-thinking institution at the forefront of innovation for virtual learning environments (VLEs). It needed an integrated document management solution to ensure the flow of information throughout the institution was consistently and efficiently managed.
Done.
Kingston chose Microsoft partner, Unisys, to implement an integrated portal-based solution using Microsoft technology, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. The solution integrates fully with Kingston’s VLE, Blackboard. The University expects to see a dramatic improvement in time to market of new academic programmes thanks to increased collaboration. The new solution will also reduce administrative costs and deliver efficiency gains throughout the institution.
Situation
An academic community is forever changing. Given that the workforce of a university is often spread over a number of campuses, with some members of staff travelling frequently to conferences or working from home, document management can be a considerable challenge. Creating timetables and ensuring effective communication can also be difficult to achieve.
Kingston University faces these challenges. With hundreds of teaching rooms and a constantly mobile staff of academics and support workers, the institution’s timetables are highly complex. Efficient, easy-to-use document management business processes are essential to enable staff to collaborate effectively. The university required a system which would control permissions to access and change documents so that the appropriate people could work together to ensure the best possible service to students.
Up until 2004, the University was reliant on an ageing e-mail system and disparate methods of handling and storing documents. Staff members stored documents on individual workstations, departmental servers or as hard copies.
The University wanted a solution which would integrate with its existing systems and applications, including Blackboard, Kingston’s virtual learning environment (VLE). It also wanted to enhance collaboration and reduce administration costs. With these goals in mind it considered three service providers and solutions: IBM, SX3 (a Novell solution provider) and Unisys (a Microsoft partner).
Solution
After researching the market and considering the merits of working with these three partners, Kingston selected Unisys to deliver a Microsoft solution for its new system. This decision was driven by the ability of Microsoft technologies to integrate both with the university’s existing infrastructure and applications. The fact that the Microsoft solution offered the lowest total cost of ownership was also a key factor in the decision.
To meet University requirements, Unisys technology consultants designed and built one of the largest consolidated e-mail and document management platforms of its kind.
Unisys proposed an integrated solution which provided the best fit for Kingston’s needs in terms of functionality and was also the most cost-effective offering. The solution, which integrates Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003, comprises e-mail and calendar functions as well as document management. Unisys has already rolled out a pilot of the solution for 90 members of staff, including administrators, IT and academic staff, and the migration of staff and students to the new platform continues through 2004.
To meet University requirements, Unisys technology consultants designed and built one of the largest consolidated e-mail and document management platforms of its kind. The core of the solution is based on a pair of eight-processor Unisys ES7000 servers supporting around 18,500 staff and students using a wide variety of clients, including desktop, handheld and phone devices.
Ian McNeice, Head of Technical Services, Kingston University, says:
“We intend to use the solution as a portal as well as for document management. SharePoint Portal Server 2003 offers web capabilities that we will exploit in the future. At present, we’re concentrating on document management, especially collaboration and version control. The kind of documents we’re dealing with cover a wide range of university activities, including awards, programmes, operational documents and teaching and learning delivery.”
Benefits
Reduced administration costs and scalability
With the new, highly scalable solution in place, Kingston is in an excellent position to grow. During the last few years the University has undergone considerable growth. To continue its expansion, it needs to maintain low overheads so it can pour a larger portion of its resources back into research and innovation. It also needs to be confident that its infrastructure will cope as student and staff numbers grow.
John Saville, Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Services says: “We don’t just want to grow; we want to enhance our already high standards of teaching and research as we expand. The scalability and easy maintenance of the solution means we’ll be able to take on new students and staff while keeping administration costs to a minimum. The paperless office used to be an impossible dream, but we’re not that far from achieving it now in certain processes.”
As the university converts its administrative paper-based documents to electronic versions, it will be able to reduce costs further as staff will no longer need to print off memos and other administrative documents.
Collaboration and time savings add value for students
The document management capability of the solution will enable staff to spend more time creating content and less time on administration. This will enable academic and support staff to create a more fulfilling experience for students, with more quality time spent on the real business of a university: education and research.
The fact that members of staff can create their own working groups within the SharePoint Portal Server document management system means that documents destined for publication will go through a shorter approval process. This will provide significant time savings when it comes to creating new programmes for students.
Saville says: “We’ll be more responsive to the needs of students and the education market. Until now, it’s taken 18 months to create and publish a new programme. With the new solution we expect to cut that by a significant amount. Staff can collaborate on module descriptions, policies, and committee papers to ensure we don’t duplicate effort as well as benefiting from the collective expertise of the University body.”
The solution empowers staff to collaborate quickly and easily. For example, Library Services will be able to create staff schedules simply by using the scheduling function in Microsoft Outlook.
McNeice says: “We were originally intending to buy a separate product for scheduling but now we can re-deploy staff at the touch of a button within our integrated solution.”
Easy to use
The ability of Microsoft products to integrate with one another, as well as with the University’s own VLE, means the system uses a familiar interface and is very easy to use. The common look and feel between Microsoft desktop applications means staff need little training to use the system, ensuring that training costs are kept to a minimum.
Saville says: “The integration within the solution is seamless. But that’s not the only benefit for users. Students are now using industry-standard software, which will prepare them for their future careers. Next year we intend to publish a web prospectus, so future students will be able to find the most up-to-date information about our courses and facilities with ease. This is obviously good for us as an institution too, as the web offers a great chance to attract students and to display all our latest programmes.”
University staff will soon be able to search for all University information online. Kingston will Web-enable student assessment records in the near future too, creating online assessments supported by SharePoint Portal Server 2003.
Saville adds: “The solution has as much potential as academics have ideas: they can take it to all sorts of directions, it’s incredibly flexible. The accessibility and impressive functions of the solution mean we don’t have to work to persuade staff to make the most of it. The ease of document and time management created by technologies such as SharePoint and Outlook will revolutionise aspects of the University.
