User ID mapping was finalized on 7 Oct. Alumni information and student exchange records were uploaded to CUSIS during the blackout period from 15 Oct 00:00 to 22 Oct 09:00. The latest set of Advisement Rules was successfully migrated into CUSIS production. Go-live readiness was confirmed by business users on 21 Oct 18:00, in which subsequently on 21 Oct evening, Chairman of the Steering Committee, Registrar and Director of ITS formally endorsed the go-live of CUSIS Release 2. Post-Implementation Support period of Release 2 was officially started upon the CUSIS Release 2 go-live. The Application Configuration Document was completed.
The customization development work for CUSIS Release 2 was completed.
CUSIS Release 2 go-live arrangements were continued to be announced through different physical and electronic channels, which assistance from Alumni Affair Office was granted to promote CUSIS to alumni. Meetings were also arranged between the Project Team and departmental LAN Administrators and student representatives. A presentation was held in CUHK Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo 2010 on 22 Oct to introduce the change brought by CUSIS. Grade upload function preview session for academics was conducted before the Release 2 go-live, and an Early Experience session was arranged for alumni.
September 2010
User Acceptance Testing for Release 2 was completed, signed off by individual offices and endorsed by the Advisory Sub-Committee on behalf of the Steering Committee. Production cutover schedule of Release 2 was accepted by the Go-Live Task force and endorsed by the Steering Committee on 13-Sep. Trial run of the production cutover was carried out by the project team from 13-Sep to 24-Sep.
Post-Implementation Support for Release 1 focused on the course add / drop and tuition calculation processes this month.
Most of the outstanding Release 2 UAT issues/developments of enhancements involving IBM customized functions were fixed.
The CUSIS Go-Live Communication Plan for Release 2 was implemented. Direct briefing sessions were held with departmental LAN administrators and student representatives. Announcement of Release 2 go-live date and outage of key system were delivered through different channels including websites, mass mails, newsletters and posters. Banners and flash banners were set up on campus and major IT systems to raise the users’ awareness.
August 2010
Cycle 1 of the User Acceptance Test (UAT) of Release 2 was completed. The project team and all involved offices reached an agreement on the Release 2 Cutover Schedule and related business arrangements. All production server installations and configurations were finalized.
The Post-Implementation Support for Release 1 was ongoing. Several Oracle product defects were found in various enrolment functions, and a majority of them were fixed.
Most of the UAT issues involving IBM customized functions were fixed. All Severity 1 and 2 issues related to IBM customizations will be closed and all issues preventing CUSIS Release 2 Go-live will be solved before UAT sign-off.
July 2010
Release 1 of the CUSIS and the new University portal system (MyCUHK) were successfully launched on 5 July 2010. The Post Implementation Support period for Release 1 was in progress.
Two cycles of System Integration Testing (SIT) for Release 2 was accepted by the University. All test scripts were executed and severity 1 issues related to IBM customizations were resolved. The User Acceptance Test (UAT) for Release 2 commenced. Daily UAT review meeting was scheduled by CUHK and IBM.
The Central Administrative Staff (CAS) Training for Release 2 and its evaluation was completed.
The CUSIS Go-live Communication Plan was confirmed. Black out period of the 3rd Data Conversion and other information related to Cutover was distributed in the CUSIS website and campus banners.
June 2010
The User Acceptance Test (UAT) was signed off by all users and endorsed by the Steering Committee on 18-Jun. The System Integration Testing (SIT) for Release 2 was in progress.
The production Cutover of Release 1 was in final stage. The CUSIS Cutover Command Centre has been setup to monitor the progress of the cutover. The Trial run of Go-live arrangement was completed on 5-Jun. The 1st and 2nd Data Conversions for Production cutover were completed with no major issues detected. CUSIS was targeted to be launched on 5-Jul and final health check by users should be completed by 4-Jul.
The Go-live communications was in full swing to engage all users of the CUHK community through both physical and electronic channels including banners, College newsletter, CUHK newsletter and CUSIS e-newsletter, CUSIS website and the websites of GSO and EFO.
May 2010
Most of the User Acceptance Test (UAT) testing cycle was completed in May. The user’s sign-off and comments were targeted to be presented to the Steering Committee for endorsement in June. The System Integration Testing (SIT) for Release 2 was started.
In addition, the preparation of Cutover was started. The CUSIS Cutover Command Centre has been setup to monitor the progress of the cutover. The Trial Run of Go-live arrangement was in final stage. Risks and issues were identified and addressed in timely manner.
To support the cut-over, specific Go-live communications have been put in place to engage all users of the CUHK community. Critical information such as the CUSIS Go-live date, the change of the student number and the new MyCUHK interface were delivered through different channels.
April 2010
After assessing the potential impacts to the daily operation of the University, the Project Team has decided to launch CUSIS on 5 July 2010. Leading up to this important date of the project, the Project Team and key users from administrative units have begun the detailed preparation of the transition. Besides the various go-live preparation activities, the Project Team has announced the outage schedule of the key IT systems in order to ensure smooth transition of CUSIS.
With the successful conclusion of the UAT, the Project Team would further look into the testing results and ensure there would be no key items left outstanding that would impact the rollout of CUSIS in July.
March 2010
The User Acceptance Test (UAT) was in progress and users spend significant effort in testing since the beginning of March. In addition to UAT, other key tests including load testing and reliability test were conducted to all aspects of CUSIS are ready for launch in June/July 2010.
In addition, CUSIS Project Team had defined the Go-live schedule and determined the key activities involved. The next Project Steering Committee in April would review and confirm the plan.
To promote CUSIS and continue to engage the key stakeholder, the Project Team communicated with the University community through various means including the usual face-to-face meetings and project website. Also the Project Team published an article on CUSIS on the University Marketplace magazine, and produced physical banners at key locations throughout the campus to raise the awareness among the students and staff.
February 2010
Winners of the CUSIS Logo Design Competition have been announced via different channels, including CUSIS website, CUHK newsletter, University Marketplace and ITSC Digest. The logo has been updated in all CUSIS related publications. An award ceremony was held in early February, where award winners presented the concepts behind their logo designs.
Central Administrative Staff (CAS) Training was conducted from 25-Jan to 12-Feb. Detailed process demonstrations and key concepts have been delivered. Hands-on experience and practices have been provided to get users familiar with the new system. After the 3-weeks intensive training, users can start preparing for the Users Acceptance Testing (UAT) starting next month.
January 2010
Throughout the month, Prof. PC Ching led the project team in visiting faculty boards, executive committees and senior academics from faculties of Arts, Science, Social Science and Engineering. Functionalities for teaching staff, departmental and faculty administrative staff were introduced and impact areas were highlighted.
After 9 weeks of thorough testing, System Integration Testing (SIT) was completed on 22nd Jan 2010. The project team worked closely to test the adherence of CUSIS and all dependent system according to the confirmed requirements and design.
December 2009
On 13th December 2009, the project team arranged a booth in the Alumni Homecoming Event. Hundreds of alumni were engaged and informed about the CUSIS project during the day. Functions available for alumni in CUSIS were introduced.
Regarding the Student Data Usage Arrangement, CUSIS project team sought consultation from a variety of stakeholders to ensure the arrangement will cater the operation needs of different offices, departments and units. Several rounds of discussion were conducted in Project Management Group Meeting, followed by a briefing led by University Registrar for users and a number of consultative and exploratory meetings with individual units, including the central administrative offices, colleges, faculty offices, some departments, and supporting units.
November 2009
The Project Team took part in the Graduate Council Meeting in November, where we presented the overview of the project and communicated the major changes on future workflow to the faculty deans and division heads. It was a great opportunity for the Project Team to engage with and solicit support from senior management.
October 2009
Before the start of System Integration Testing (SIT) in November, a briefing session was organized for Central Administrative Users on 14 October, 2009. A throughout end-to-end solution was illustrated with several real-life scenarios. To facilitate the execution of SIT, testing evidence, progress tracking, defect severity and defect review arrangement were explained in details.
To extend the scope of communication to a broader group of stakeholders, the Project Team met student representatives from various Students Unions in a regular student unions meeting on 22 October 2009. President of the Student Union of CUHK, Terence Lin, as well as student representatives from several colleges and faculties were present in the meeting. New student ID format, new course enrollment arrangement and self-service features available for students in the new portal were presented. During the meeting, students raised their concerns on the future processes under the brand-new system.
In late October 2009, the Project Team connected with a wider group of academics through the Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo where we shared the project overview and progress with the participated academics. Key features on CUSIS were highlighted during the presentation.
September 2009
In September, the Project Team organized Department briefing for the administrative staff to understand more about the process changes upon the implementation of CUSIS. Over 200 department administrative staff participated in the briefing session. The Project Team went through a detailed discussion with them. Comments collected were constructive to the project development.
In the same month, College briefing was organized, where the Project Team communicated the major changes on future processes to the administrative staff, for example, the handling of ECA, Student Financials, Financial Aids, Scholarships and etc. They were updated on the overall project progress as well. Feedbacks from participants were positive.
August
2009
IBM consultants documented all of the confirmed business requirements in a document, namely Solution Blueprint, in late July 2009. The document includes the future business process of the PeopleSoft Campus Solutions application, which has been reviewed and signed off by key users in early August 2009.