Why SIS Implementations Seldom Meet Expectations - Conclusion

Part 7 of 7

The Root Cause of Why SIS Implementations Don’t Meet Expectations?

In the previous sections, we’ve explored 5 different reasons that SIS Implementations don’t meet expectations. Those reasons range from poor decision-making to vendors driving the project. But the first reason (the lack of a clear vision) is the root of all problems. If you don’t have a clear definition of what your transformation is trying to achieve, the other 4 reasons are more likely to appear. Understanding where you are going and specifically how your school needs to transform the experience of students, faculty, and staff will enable you to make the right decisions, provide your leaders a goal to work toward, give them the ability to make a meaningful investment in your future, and ensure your software and partners meet your needs, not just theirs.

What to do:

• Build a vision for what your transformation will look like for students, staff, and faculty.
• Have people who are skilled in design thinking develop maps of their journeys in your campus of the future. Assess the difference between that journey, and what your current capabilities are.
• Decide if those differences can best be resolved by leveraging unused capabilities in your current system and retiring modifications, or by implementing a new SIS. A majority of the time, a new SIS is not the answer. In either case, focus on the business and strategic needs of your school, not the technology itself, or what the vendor is selling that day.?
• If you decide to implement a new SIS, use your vision as the basis for selecting your new solution. Make your selection based on the SIS’s ability to meet your needs, not the bright descriptions of the technology that a vendor is presenting.?

Having a clear vision will keep you in control of the process and enable you to successfully transform your school.

To download the full 7-part series,?click here.