Never Say Never: Creatively Leverage Your Legacy

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Never Say NeverCreatively Leverage Your Legacy

• Donovan Follette
• Washington State University

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Overview of WSU

• Land-grant University (1892)
• Carnegie Research I University
• 21,000 Students
• Four Campuses
• Multiple Learning Centers
• Distance Education Program

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WSU Campus Locations
Spokane
Pullman
Tri-Cities
Vancouver
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1992-2001 Legacy e-volution
Business needs drive innovation.
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Building on the Infrastructure

• Financial Aid Information
• Web Registration
• Student Academic Information
• Student Accounts
• From balances to payments via credit card
• Undergraduate/Graduate Pre-admit Status
• Student Elections
• Address Telephone Changes

Student Information Center
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Four Strategies

• Identify Missing Key Technologies
• Evaluate Available Skills
• Creatively Leverage Your Legacy
• Prioritize Projects For Success

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Strategy 1Identify Missing Key Technologies

• If we only had
• Authentication? Are you who you say you are?
• Authorization? Are you allowed for this
  function?
• RPC Access to Legacy Environment?
• Inventory in-house software
• Consortium/vendor solution
• Cash-free may not be possible but be strategic

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Strategy 2Evaluate Available Skills

• Identify Required Implementation Skill Sets
• Data administration
• DBA
• Application analyst/specialist
• O/S, network infrastructure specialist
• Select Key Participants
• Visionary, capable, team-oriented
• Expert user(s)

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Strategy 3Creatively Leverage Your Legacy

• Controlled e-volution
• Use maintainable/sustainable technologies
• Language environments, O/Ss, databases
• Adhere to production policies and standards
• Practical Examples
• One-way data extracts (accessed via .cgi, .asp,
  etc.)
• Relational to flat files FTPed to Web server --
  Majors List
• VSAM to relational database -- Transfer Courses

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Strategy 3Creatively Leverage Your Legacy

• Practical Examples (cont.)
• Leverage in-house technologies
• E-mail Services
• Request collection via Web
• Output delivery via e-mail (batch processing)
• Unused technologies -- Cougar TraCS
• Distribute electronic data
• Re-think our age-old report distribution model
• Supply data for desktop decision support tools

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Strategy 4Prioritize Projects For Success

• Applying a Bit of Objectivity...
• Time estimate - S(1-3m), M(3-9m), L
• Impact - S(? admin.), M(advising community),
  L(student population)
• Cost (hardware, software licenses)
• Quick Wins SL or ML

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Conclusions
Small incremental steps can produce large
sustainable returns.
There are ways to move our applications forward
in support of e-services be creative.
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For Further Information ...
Donovan (Van) Follette follette_at_wsu.edu www.wsu.ed
u
Creatively Leverage Your Legacy