Solution Implementation Cost Planning Guide

15November 2012—Page1

Closing the Gap: Turning Data Into Action

Solution Implementation Cost Planning Guide: A Tool for Planning Costs Associated with SIS/LMS Systems and Other Implementations

November15, 2012

Table of Contents

Introduction

Purpose

Structure

How to Use This Guide

1.0Follow a Defined Process to Develop Your SIS/LMS Cost Estimate

2.0Cost Components You Can Include in Your SIS/LMS Implementation Cost Estimation

Introduction

District and school leaders are striving to make classroom-level student data available in forms that are more readily usable for improving instructional practices. These demands require that districts purchase and effectively deploy data systems that can include student information systems (SIS) and learning management systems (LMS) and assessment systems.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided funding for a project entitled Closing the Gap: Turning SIS/LMS Data into Action. Some of the objectives of this project were to uncover current attitudes toward the value of existing SIS and LMS solutions, understand the processes and approaches used to select and implement these solutions, and identify recommendations and best practices for not only selecting and implementing solutions, but transitioning districts to a more data-rich culture.

As part of this project, Gartner, Inc. collaborated with American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) to identify lessons learned by districts across the U.S. in identifying, selecting, and implementing SIS and LMS solutions. A number of districts reported the need for a simplified budget format that could be shared with a variety of stakeholders for the purposes of verifying that major budget components have been accounted for.

This Solution Implementation Cost Planning Guideand other resources to support an SIS and or LMS implementation and transitioning K-12 school districts toward a more data-rich culture can be found on the Resources tab at For additional information on cost estimating, understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO) for your SIS/LMS solution, and other related topics, consider the CoSN- Gartner K-12 TCO Tool.

Purpose

The purpose of this Solution Implementation Cost Planning Guide is to suggest which cost components should be included in estimating the budget for an SIS and/or LMS system implementation and provide recommendations for how best to complete a budget estimate.

Structure

This guide has 3 major sections:

Budget estimation process guidance
Suggested cost components
Sample budget template (appended to this guide)

How to Use This Guide

This planning tool can provide input to a number of processes and documents including:

Developing an initial summary budget to use when discussing the educational need for the SIS and/or LMS solution and the financial impact on the district
Developing the project charter
Developing a Request for Proposal (RFP) and communicating expectations with the Vendor (s)

1.0Follow a Defined Process to Develop Your SIS/LMS Cost Estimate

Determining the costs of an application initiative is often viewed as a difficult task because of the challenges most organizations face in estimating the costs accurately. This is understandable, because of the intricacies involved in estimating costs. Yet, accurately estimating costs is increasingly important in the current economic environment, where most education budgets are under pressure.

The various costs associated with the cost estimation process include originating and ongoing costs for the initiative. When estimating these costs, they should be calculated for the agreed upon life of the application (that is, three, four, five, seven or 10 years), taking into account depreciation and amortization rules. In determining these cost estimates, it is critical to include any assumptions made when preparing the estimates for the initiative.

Consider these steps when developing your cost estimate:

First, identify the tasks required to successfully implement the system. Use the Readiness Activity Planner and the Project Charter assistance templates located on the resources tab at guide you through the process of identifying these tasks.
Then, consider all establishment costs (i.e. those costs associated with establishing and deploying your SIS or LMS), including the timing of the costs for the initial and follow-on stages of the initiative.
Next, consider any recurring cost implications (for example, periodic costs associated with operating and maintaining the application).
Finally, consider any avoided costs the initiative may encounter (for example, as a result of implementing this system, another system that is more costly to maintain can be retired).

Repeat these steps until all the tasks for the initiative have been costed.

2.0Cost Components You Can Include in Your SIS/LMS Implementation Cost Estimation

Districts should consider the project costs listed below. This is not an exhaustive list and is instead a list of the summary level areas districts should depict when reviewing the budget with stakeholders and decision-makers. Districts will need to execute a more formal and detailed budget estimating process.

Personnel:
In-house personnel:
Information Technology
Academic (e.g., curriculum planners, data coaches, teachers,etc.)
Administration (e.g. Assistant Superintendents, program managers, etc)
Contractor:
Information Technology
Academic (e.g. subject matter experts)
Backfill (for example, the costs associated with filling roles left temporarily vacant by resources assigned to the project)
Tools and equipment required by the project
Facilities for the project personnel
External services:
Consulting
Other
Professional Development and Training

Software:
Application license costs
Database license costs
Operating system license costs
Monitoring and management tool costs
Costs for other software
Hardware:
Application platform hardware acquisition costs
Database platform hardware acquisition costs
Monitoring and management tool platform hardware acquisition costs
Peripheral hardware acquisition costs
Facilities required to house, secure and control the platform environment
Personnel involved in the system and platform acquisition and construction
External services
Training required for any new or changed tools or equipment
Network and communications required for the application or platform being acquired

When compiling these costs, consider requirements for all environments (that is, production, test, development and business continuity) involved in the initiative. In some cases, nonproduction or initial work may be performed in cloud instances, while final production will be delivered on-premises. Costing for cloud instances should be included when this is the case. When considering personnel costs, check to ensure that double counting does not occur. Some or all of these costs may have already been collated in the cost estimate for project resources.

In most instances, it is unlikely that there will be any significant facilities or occupancy costs specifically associated with the temporary hardware platforms needed to enable the implementation or transition. As before, some or all the personnel costs associated with implementation and transition may have already been collated in the cost estimate for project resources.

Lastly, it is important to document assumptions that are made as part of the budgeting process, especially those that are driving the cost estimates. A separate tab has been included in the template to accommodate these assumptions, and the specific areas affected by the assumptions.

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