Banner EDW in the UAE Evelyn R. Babey, Ph.D. Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAE March 23, 2009 Course ID 0784 CONNECT TO COMMUNITY.

Banner EDW in the UAE

Evelyn R. Babey, Ph.D. Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAEMarch 23, 2009Course ID 0784

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Thank you for your cooperation!

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BANNER EDW IN THE UAE

Evelyn R. Babey, Ph. D.

Senior Consultant/Data Warehouse Project Director

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Monday, 23 March 2009

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Introduction

• Rationale for and implementation of SunGard Higher Education Enterprise Data Warehouse by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR), the United Arab Emirates

• Why performance management analytics is critical to the UAE’s developing a work force that meets the country’s current and future needs

• How performance management analytics will be the basis for funding for the three federal institutions in the UAE

• Understand SunGard Higher Education Enterprise Data Warehouse can be implemented without other Banner modules

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The presentation will discuss the following topics:

• Organizational context of Data Warehouse Project

• History of the MOHESR Data Warehouse Project

• Need for performance management analytics to drive the development of higher education in the UAE

• Project goal

• Vendor selection

• Uniqueness of the implementation

• Implementation overview

• Lessons learned

• Summary

Organizational Context

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Organizational Context

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Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR)

Higher Education Policy, Planning and Coordination (HEPPC) – Data Warehouse

United Arab Emirates University (UAEU)

Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)

Zayed University (ZU)

National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO)

Commission for Academic

Accreditation (CAA)

Federal Institutions’ DataFederal Institutions

Admissions/Placement DataPrivate Institutions’ Data

History of the MOHESR Higher Education Data Warehouse

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Not a New Idea

• Cabinet Decision no. (1) of 1992 establishing MOHESR included the “preparation of studies and provision of the required database and information for higher education planning. . .” as a responsibility

• NAPO Gateway to Higher Education Opportunities, Final Strategic Document, March 23, 1997 suggested that the National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO) “identify those areas where research is required and serve as the catalyst to make sure that research happens”

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Not A New Idea

• Proposal for Centre for Education Statistics and Research in NAPO, March 3, 1999

• “Educating the Next Generation of Emiratis: A Master Plan for UAE Higher Education” published in 2007 highlighted the need for MOHESR to organize and manage data to support higher education decision making

• “Student Based Funding for Higher Education in the UAE,” a study presented to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs in December 2007, stressed the need for a federal database to support the proposed funding model

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Not A New Idea

• Recent UAE Federal strategic plans and MOHESR strategic plans included the implementation of a data warehouse to support decision making as a key strategic initiative for the Department of Higher Education Policy, Planning and Coordination (HEPPC) and its predecessor office

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Need for Performance

Management Analytics

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Need for Performance Analytics

• To support better decision making and promote accountability for achieving higher education goals and objectives

• To address the significant increase in the number of unemployed UAE nationals by developing higher education programs and training programs that better match the skills of national job seekers with short term and longer term labor market needs

• To determine the funding level for federal institutions of higher education by a student-based funding model

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Project Goal

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• To implement a data warehouse for the purposes of centralizing data from federal and non-federal institutions of higher education and other sources.

Centralized data will enable sophisticated data analyses for research, reporting, policy analysis and strategic planning purposes related to developing a system of higher education that meets the current and future needs of the UAE

Project Goal

Vendor Selection

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Vendor Selection: Why Banner EDW

• Simplified set-up and importing of data from three federal institutions of higher education (Banner institutions)

• NAPO Oracle database structure similar to Banner tables and field names (upload admissions data to institutions)

• CAA Oracle database structure similar to Banner tables and field names

• Accepts data in many different formats

• On-going support is local

• Written documentation provided

• Active user lists and help desk support

• Does not require other Banner module to implement

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Software

• Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) 1.4

• Operational Data Store (ODS) 3.1

• Cognos BI 8.2.1

• Banner Student 7.4.1

• Oracle Database 10g Rel 2

• Oracle Application Server 10g Rel 2

• Oracle Forms & Report Server 10g Rel 2

• Oracle Developer Suite 10g Rel 2

• Oracle Reports Services 10g Rel 2

• Oracle Warehouse Builder 10g Rel 2

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Hardware

• Sun Solaris Unix servers—Banner Production Database Server—ODS/EDW Production Database Server—Test/Development Database Server—Banner Self Service Application Server—Banner ERP Application Server—Test/Development Application Server—Cognos BI Application Server—Cognos BI Web Server

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Hardware

• Other Hardware—Banner Forms Developer Workstation—Sun Storage Tek 2540 SAN—Sun Storage Tek C2 Tape Autoloader—DVD Unit—Sun Storage Cabinet

• Back-up system—Veritas back up software—5 client license—Single drive unit with 8 cartridge library

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Uniqueness of Implementation

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Uniqueness of Implementation

• First time Banner EDW implemented in Middle East• First time Banner EDW implemented without a

supporting Banner module• First time Banner EDW fed by five distinct data

sources

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Implementation Overview

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Implementation Overview– Project Plan

• Developed formal project plan • Developed a formal project organizational structure• Microsoft Project to track work breakdown

structure (WBS)• Project designed in several phases

—Build phase—Five reporting phase, each with a

different set of reports to be delivered

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Implementation Overview—Project Risks

• Lack of depth in IT staff skill set—No PL/SQL programming skills—No Solaris administration experience—Limited Banner experience—No experience using sophisticated reporting software like

Cognos BI suite

• Lack of DBA at the beginning of the project

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Implementation Overview-Calendar

• March 2008, contract signed

• April 2008, software and hardware delivered

• May, 2008, kick off meeting

• May, first meeting of Federal IR Directors to discuss federal data to be mapped to DW

• May-June, software installed in test data bases

• June, identified data elements from Federal Institutions, NAPO and CAA to mapped to DW

• June, agreed on data definitions, data elements, data structure

• June, Cognos administrator training

• June-July ETL mappings with SunGard Higher Education consultant (no DBA)

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Implementation Overview-Calendar

• July-mid-August, vacation

• August, Cognos Report Studio training

• September, ODS/EDW Technical training

• October, ODS/EDW Functional Training

• October, finalized ETL processes, built Star Schemas and Dimensionally Modeled Relations (DMRs) for Federal institutions’ data

• November, live on test data bases

• November, Framework Manager training

• December, began producing basic federal institution enrollment reports

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Implementation Overview-Calendar

• November-December, CAA collects September data for accredited private institutions

• January CAA writes reports with accredited private institutions’ data

• Funding model report delayed as institutions did not provide all necessary data to MOHESR

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Implementation Overview—Future Plans

• Install production databases

• Cognos Transformer training to create actual EDW cubes

• Current Project Plan has project ending in August, 2009. In reality, projects like this never end! They just become part of every day life.

• Future includes — importing data from additional data sources—additional reports, statistical analyses, research projects

and in-depth performance management analyses

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Lessons Learned

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Lessons Learned

• Without Banner Student as a base, client has to develop all ETLs, cubes and reports

• This meant that training, particularly Cognos BI training, as usually delivered by SunGard Higher Education and Cognos was inappropriate for MOHESR environment

• Seasoned Oracle DBA at start of project absolutely necessary to timely success of a project like this one

• Delay in hiring an Oracle DBA delayed installation of production databases

• Lack of dedicated project space and training facility impacted project management activities.

• Calendar difficulties

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Lessons Learned

• Teamwork and cooperation make a project work no matter what the impediments

• Thanks go to all the MOHESR Data Warehouse Project Team members and to ITS staff, Cognos staff and SunGard Higher Education staff who gave the help and support to make our “go live” date

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Summary• Top leaders must be fully supportive of the project and

fund necessary requirements, e.g., staffing, dedicated training space and equipment and dedicated project space

• If key staffing is not in place at beginning of project consider delaying the project until available

• If you plan a “unique” implementation discuss with vendor(s) any changes that should be made to standard implementation schedule, particularly training, before the project begins

• Out-of-scope activities can change the original focus of the project

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Questions & Answers

• Any questions, comments?

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Shukran! (Thank You in Arabic)!

Evelyn R. Babey, PhD

[email protected]

Please complete the online class evaluation form

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