University of Exeter to boost digital transformation

In its bid to be listed as one of the top 10 universities in the UK, the University of Exeter is set for digital transformation programmes. Two separate supplier opportunities were published at the beginning of the month at the Digital Marketplace website of the Government of UK.

The total value for both the programmes together will be £2.5m.

The latest start date for both the programmes will be 20 May 2019 and the expected contract length would be of 24-month. The applicants will be evaluated on 50% Technical competence, 20% on Cultural fit, and 30% on the quoted price.

The programmes have been scoped to give a reasonable expectation of costs and time of delivery across all elements. Some progress has already been done at the university with external partners to shape the work packages that are to deliver the enhancements required.

Both the shortlisted programme applicants will be assisting them in enhancing their digital services.

The university wants to utilise its competitive advantage in areas like recruitment, service delivery to students from around the world, and supporting academics in their teaching and research.

The users to be impacted by this programme are students, academics, and administrators. While both the programmes will require working with the Chief Information and Digital Officer, the Digital Programme Director, and the wider Exeter IT team, one stakeholder for both the programmes changes.

Variance in the two programmes

The first programme; Design, architectural and information security services; will additionally have Assistant Director of Solutions Delivery as a stakeholder. Similarly, the second programme; PMO services; will have a collaboration with the Assistant Director of Strategy & Architecture.

Experience of working in the education sector within a HE environment is a common secondary experience for both the programmes.

Additional skills and experience for the design, architectural and information security services programme:

• Have evidence of successful agile delivery methods combined with at pace governance models.
• Experience in the following toolsets JIRA, Planview, MS 0365 & Teams.
• Experience in the following frameworks or approaches PRINCE2, MSP, SCRUM, DevOps, Waterfall, LEAN & ITIL

Additional skills and experience for the PMO services programme:

• Successful design of automation using Robotic Process Automation and/or Machine Learning and/or Artificial Intelligence.
• Demonstrable experience in delivery of microservices and serverless architectures, as well as integration platforms.
• Experienced in the design of holistic data architectures.
• Experience in the following toolsets: Planview, Orbus iServer.
• Experience in the following frameworks or certifications: PRINCE2, MSP, TOGAF, COBIT & ITIL BABOK, CCBA or CCBP, and CISMP / CISSP / CISM.

The application announcement mentioned: “To support the University in achieving its vision of being ranked among the Top 10 in the UK and Top 100 worldwide it is launching a Digital Transformation Programme that will implement cutting-edge digital products and solutions for its students, teachers, researchers and staff.

“The education service aspires to provide high-quality teaching and learning experiences to students, the research service aspires to multiply research impact by creating more avenues for research and collaboration. Technology-enabled interactive spaces, intuitive delivery and interdisciplinary learning play a key role to support staff better, use resources optimally, and build our impact regionally, nationally and globally.”

In the UK’s three main annual university league tables, Exeter was ranked 12th, 14th, and 18th in the most recent editions. The World University Rankings published by The Times placed the institution 141st globally.

All the stakeholders involved with the programmes will have to keep the big picture in mind since digital transformation is greater than mere digitisation.