Efficient Quality Service Delivery Through Automation: A Case Study

Efficient & Quality Service Delivery through Automation: A Case Study of Three Applications Prof. SB Junaidu Workshop for Deans & HoDs Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria May 28, 2014

Outline Introduction Software Automation Roadmap at ABU Case-study Applications ExamsLOGIC 1.0 Students Portal HRMIS Summary 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 2

Introduction Prior to 2008, many processes and services in the University were managed manually Many man-hours (and, of course, money!) wasted, as a result Solutions provided, where provided, were patchy and/or inefficient Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 3

Introduction Diffusion of IT in areas of human Endeavour well acknowledged Can be employed to enable efficiency and quality of service Our goal in initiating in-house software development at ABU Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 4

Software Automation Roadmap at ABU Software development fronts at ABU Mathematics Department IACC Software Development Committee Automation Big Picture Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 5

Application 1: ExamsLOGIC 1.0 Issues with previous Exam Packages 1. Data entry was tedious, monotonous, record- at-a-time and error-prone 2. Do not track students based on program requirements 3. Generation of Faculty and Senate results submission formats was time-consuming and error-prone Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 6

Application 1: ExamsLOGIC 1.0 Issues with previous Exam Packages 4. Do not interface with University portals 5. Supported only physical results exchange among departments 6. Supported limited statistical reports 7. Lacked flexibility in generation of transcripts Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 7

Application 1: ExamsLOGIC 1.0 Project Goal To develop an examination processing system that is User-friendly Robust Customizable Extensible Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 8

Application 1: ExamsLOGIC 1.0 Result Software code-named ExamsLOGIC 1.0 Meets the project s goal Deployed in all departments in ABU and its affiliate programs, except faculty of medicine Versions for PG programs, Diplomas & SBRS developed Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 9

ExamsLOGIC 1.0: Exams Officers Assessment Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 10

ExamsLOGIC 1.0: Exams Officers Assessment Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 11

Application 2: Students Portal Issues with old students portal Outsourced to a Bank Financially demanding Not robust and mature for years Lacked essential elements of a portal Not interfaced with other applications Lacked own payment gateway, exam processor and staff portal to interface with ABU not fully in-charge of collections and data! Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 12

Application 2: Students Portal Project Goal To develop an alternative portal that addresses the shortcomings of the old portal and more is completely ABU-driven & ABU-owned makes ABU a pace-setter in in-house application development Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 13

Application 2: Students Portal Results Robust students portal developed Deployed during 2011-2012 session Used for (PG, UG, Diploma and Certificate) Fees payment Course registration Accommodation booking Saves ABU millions of naira annually Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 14

Application 3: HRMIS Motivation Employee records management tedious, inefficient and error-prone Inconsistent/incoherent data maintained by different University organs Generation of data for Management decisions time- consuming Lack of friendly interface with other data sources Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 15

Application 3: HRMIS Project Goal To develop a database-driven Human Resource Management Information System for ABU Employees Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 16

Application 3: HRMIS Results Robust HRMIS application developed Addresses the shortcomings identified Interfaces with the staff portal for efficient and cost-effective management of Employee records Promotion processing Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 17

Application 3: HRMIS Results Attracted a national grant of >N25m Scaled to cater for Nigerian Universities Six universities selected in pilot projects Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 18

Summary Presented how technology used to increase efficiency and quality service delivery in ABU Used three automation projects as case study ExamsLOGIC 1.0 Students Portal HRMIS Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 19

Summary Other Applications Staff Web Portal Recruitment portal ABU Facility Manager KADA-Legend 1.0 BrownSugar eBursary SmartBay Hospital Manager eTranscript & Certificate Verification Payroll Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 20

SummaryIn-House Automation Dividends Cost saving What ABU generates is what ABU gets! Leadership Pace-setting in in-house application development Leveraging & developing local skills base A win-win for ABU and its personnel Data localization ABU s data is in ABU s sleeves! Freedom, independence & flexibility Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 21

SummaryIn-House Automation Challenges Unnecessary (re)training demands on ExamsLOGIC As one Exam Officer leaves and another comes Unprincipled use of ExamsLOGIC Data loss: Lack of proper maintenance and frequent reformatting of computers Lack of advocacy on developed applications For both local and commercial purposes Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 22

The End Thank You Workshop for Deans & HoDs, ABU, Zaria Assembly Hall, ABU, Zaria 23