Integrating systems can help your institution run much more smoothly. Zach Winn, of Campus Safety, writes, “People around the country are realizing the need for integration at their institutions and recognizing the value it can bring.” While the article published on Campus Security is primarily targeted at the campus safety official and how they should go about the process, it brings forward many valuable points that any professional should consider when getting ready to integrate systems regardless of their department.
Know Why You Need to Integrate
Explain the need for integration and the benefits that come along with it.
Your integration should have a clear and well-defined purpose; it should be the answer to a very specific problem—for example, you may consider integrating university email into the university portal interface to allow students, staff, and faculty to see their inbox without opening a new window. Knowing which concrete problem your integration will solve is especially necessary when discussing the integration with your user base. Winn quotes Tom Komola, of MIT’s Security and Emergency Management Office, in his original article: “With any sort of change, people get uncomfortable. There’s a natural pushback, so there needs to be an education process for everyone involved.” Explaining the need for integration and the benefits that come along with it will not only make your user base feel better about any possible downtime they may encounter due to the integration but it will also allow them to feel like they’re partners in the project and will allow them to feel comfortable reporting any potential problems for troubleshooting.
Know Your Resources & Your Budget to Choose the Right System
Once you know what your university needs, consider your budget.
Depending on which type of system integration you’re performing, you may have a variety of features to choose from. We would recommend that you create a list of which features your system needs and look at the vendors that offer them. Once you know what your university needs, consider your budget. The last thing you want to do is choose a seemingly perfect product and find out that you cannot afford it. Rob Welton, of Siemens, adds: “Whatever functionality you want to achieve, maybe add 50 percent of the time you originally think it’s going to take and 25 percent of the cost.”
Choose the Right Partner
It is best to ask your vendors as many questions as possible.
Working with a vendor goes beyond just figuring out which features you need and making sure that it is within your budget. You may have vendors talking to you about excess features that, while not necessary, might be nice to have. However, is this realistic to your project or institution at large? You’ll want to choose an integration partner that has what you need and is also realistic about what can be accomplished in accordance with the project plan.. Winn offers another piece of advice: “With so many companies competing for each institution’s business, it might seem like you can’t lose when selecting an integrator. Komola, however, warns of integrators promising too much and manipulating their bids.” When choosing the right partner, and consequently the right system, it is best to ask your vendors as many questions as possible; make sure that they know their system and can discuss it at length with you. Their ability to do this will also ensure that you are getting the system that is best for your institution, ultimately making sure that your needs are being met.
Work with Your IT Department
If you are an IT professional reading this, you already know why you would need to be involved in this process.
If you are not an IT personnel: make sure you involve your IT department. The best reason is the one that Winn states, “Every institution’s system has unique limitations and characteristics. No one knows those characteristics better than the IT department.” This means that you will not just want to involve them when you are ready to implement the system. Realistically, they should be involved in every part of the decision-making process. After all, no department is better equipped to discuss the parameters you are working with than the IT department. Giving the IT department a say in this project may help you narrow down your options. Someone in your department may know of a system that would work best for your institution that you can move to the top of your research list. Or during the implementation, the IT department may know how to get around a potential roadblock that the vendor’s technician does not.
The ultimate goal of your systems integration should be addressed by the end of this process. You should now have a solution to your problem. With that being said, systems integration can be very tricky to implement and could get to be more difficult without the proper considerations. These four pieces of advice are by no means the everything to consider when getting ready to integrate systems, but they are four things that should be given the appropriate amount of thought. Best of luck in your integration!
read the full article at Campus Safety Magazine.
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