Overview
SAIT, in partnership with our Divisional partners, Procurement, and Berkeley IT, provides project management support for information technology projects within Student Affairs. From project ideas to formal requests and intake, to divisional prioritization and execution, SAIT’s project management team ensures transparency, communication, and collaboration.
Is it a project?
Great ideas can come from anyone on campus but not every great idea is a project. One function of the Strategic Initiatives team is to determine which ideas qualify as tickets, for procurement, as an initiative, or as a project.
| Ticket |
A Ticket is requested work that does not exceed the bounds of a contributor's daily operational tasks and involves very few stakeholders to complete the task. |
|---|---|
| Procurement |
A Procurement is a purchase request that is led by the Student Affairs Procurement team and requires a contract, negotiated purchase terms, security review, and other critical elements that must be completed to complete the procurement request. |
| Initiative |
An Initiative is work that exceeds the bounds of a contributor's daily work but does not have the complexity of a project. It likely includes multiple stakeholders and may take several weeks or more to complete. |
| Project |
A Project is a significant undertaking that involves multiple stakeholders, cross-functional departmental involvement, a defined business case, Executive sponsor approval, and ongoing project management support through initiation and discovery through completion. |
Student Affairs Technology Project Request
Before Submitting an SA Technology Project
1. Review Existing Resources
Review both the Student Affairs Software Catalog and the IT Service Catalog first to try to identify an existing solution. The providers of the software and services listed in these catalogs have existing relationships with Student Affairs, UC Berkeley and/or the UC System. If an existing technology solution can meet at least 80% of your requirements, it should be the selected solution.
2. Confer with the Student Affairs Strategic Initiatives Director
- The Strategic Initiatives Director can be a thought partner to offer guidance and best practices as you explore solutions to your business challenges, as well as connect you with campus resources and other division partners that may have a similar technology need. Additionally, the Strategic Initiatives team can provide insight to currently queued and active projects as well as upcoming project request periods and best practices.
- Student Affairs Procurement can help you determine if a formal bid is required for your project. Typically, software and services that have been formally bid have better pricing, and less risky contract terms, and are negotiated faster than contracts that have not been formally bid. This will help to ensure departments receive quality software as a service, competitive pricing, and suppliers who adhere to UC Regents’ policies.
- RSSP staff should confer with Ingrid Hunt (ijbhunt@berkeley.edu), Technology Planner for RSSP, on any prospective project requests. Guidance will then be provided to coordinate with the Strategic Initiatives Director and Student Affairs Procurement.
- UHS staff should continue to follow their established internal processes.
3. Document the project requirements
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It might be a Project if…
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It is multi-departmental/cross-division.
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It requires hosting or programming resources from SAIT (i.e. it is not a cloud solution).
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It requires specialized hardware to connect to the campus network.
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It requires data from or integration with another campus system.
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It has an estimated project budget of $500,000 or more or an estimated annual operating expense of $250,000 or more (project required).
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It is probably NOT a Project if...
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It is an online service that will not require data from or integration with another campus system.
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It would not require resources outside of your department to implement.
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What problem is being solved? Has it been clearly defined? What teams and/or resources do you anticipate would be needed to accomplish this project? Who is the project’s Sponsor?
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Resource: Berkeley IT’s definition of a project
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Note: SAIT Project Management differs in intake and prioritization from Berkeley IT’s TPO. Our definitions of project and problem, however, are the same.
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What features are required? What vendors have been considered? Do any vendors present unique advantages or offerings? What is the approximate 1st year/implementation pricing? What are the annual costs?
Resource: You may use this feature comparison template to define requirements and compare vendor products.
4. Ask potential vendors Security/Privacy and Accessibility questions
Ask questions of potential vendors to see if they seem prepared to meet the Security/Privacy and Accessibility needs of the procurement process.
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Security/Privacy
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Ask potential vendors if they have completed a HECVAT (Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit). A vendor that has completed a HECVAT demonstrates attention to security and it is a good sign that they will be responsive during a vendor security assessment.
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If there is credit card data involved, ask potential vendors if they have a PCI DSS Attestation of Compliance from a Qualified Security Assessor (this is a third party attestation, not a self attestation).
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Ask potential vendors if they have a security plan they are able to share as part of a procurement process.
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Consider the business and/or data location of potential vendors. Vendors without a US presence can pose extra security risks and contractual challenges.
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Inquire with potential vendors and confirm that the data is not being used to generate income outside of the contracted services (data is not being sold or shared with third parties).
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Ask potential vendors if they support SSO/SAML2 and can integrate with CalNet (nice to have).
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Accessibility
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Ask potential vendors if their software meets the WCAG 2.0 level AA standards or if they have completed a VPAT.
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Ask potential vendors if they are willing to complete an Accessibility questionnaire as part of a procurement process.
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Ask potential vendors if they are willing to participate in a hands-on accessibility review. Would they be willing to commit resources to address any major accessibility issues identified?
Check with the Web Access team for guidance and tips for identifying an accessible solution. You can contact them via email: webaccess@berkeley.edu