Projects Proposal Process
ITS follows a defined process to select and prioritize some of the work that we do.
What is a "project?"
A "project" is a set of tasks that have a defined start and end date. Projects are one kind of work in the range of tasks that ITS completes, such as daily operations, maintenance, and overhead. Work that ITS is undertaking becomes a project if it meets the following criteria:
- Greater than $5,000 purchase
- Greater than 80 hours of effort
- Impacts campus communities, requiring them to take action, change processes, etc.
- Increases ongoing support costs
- Creates a new service
- Decommissions a service
- Involves coordination with external stakeholders
- Driven by legal mandate or mitigation of a prioritized risk
- Time critical
Project Proposal Process
Like any organization, ITS has a limited amount of staff and budgetary resources with which to maintain existing services as well as invest in new and possibly strategic areas. How does ITS decide what projects to work on from the spectrum of possibilities? We have a defined process for proposing and selecting projects.
Projects must align to the Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives (Objectives are forthcoming) outlined in the ITS Strategic Plan.
The annual submission process occurs in July and August with subsequent submissions throughout the year operating on an accelerated schedule. Projects are proposed using the Project Tracking SharePoint site (see how information in SharePoint is used in the ITS Web site).
The final decision of project approval and prioritization is made by the Executive Management Team (VPIT and AVP’s) with input provided by the departmental directors and project champions. Additional community input will be gathered as items of impact are identified.
Once a project is approved and prioritized, a project manager is identified and more detailed planning is performed to identify and secure specific resources, define and document project scope and deliverables, etc.
How does information about projects show up on the ITS Web site?
Every 30 minutes, the ITS Web site sends a query to the ITS Projects SharePoint site(limited to ITS staff) and asks for data updates to project records. Those project records show up in the At-a-Glance and Archive pages, as well as in project and service subsites.
