Data Warehouse Consultancy

Descriptions

Following the merger of Swansea Metropolitan University into the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) in 2013 there is an institution wide remit to unify and rationalise both business process workflow and the systems and infrastructure that support them.A priority of the university is to create one unified Student Records System (SRS) to replace the two that currently exist at the Carmarthen/Lampeter campus and the Swansea campus, namely TRIBAL SITS:VISION and AGRESSO QLS (Unit4).Both campuses have different business processes to achieve the same required outcomes and are reflective of the legacy processes and the software/system capabilities available at each campus. There are on-going projects to rationalise the student-centric business processes across campuses and the proposed new SRS should facilitate these processes.In preparation for the implementation of a new SRS a data warehouse solution has been proposed to bring the two separate SRS data-sets together along with the other benefits that a data warehouse provides, and this requirement forms the basis of the procurement.In preparation for the implementation of a new SRS a data warehouse solution has been proposed to bring the two separate SRS data-sets together. The primary ‘value-add’ is to serve the short term harmonised data reporting requirements while the procurement and implementation of the new unified SRS is completed. Following the implementation the new SRS would then be mapped to the data warehouse, replacing the two existing SRS and reporting would continue with little disruption.The initial reporting focus would be to satisfy the internal BI reporting requirements (prioritised and phased rollout). Ideally we would focus on the Microsoft Reporting stack, SSRS initially before assessing SSAS but are open to advice and recommendations.Other secondary benefits to be derived from the data warehouse area.A number of interfaces can be unplugged from the live SRS database and plumbed to the data warehouse.b.Reduce reporting load on live SRS databasec.Improved data availability when scheduled SRS downtimed.Improved ability in future to report on historical dataRather than the consultant themselves providing a ‘solution’ it is envisaged that the consultant(s) would work on site with our internal team to design, create and populate the data warehouse and specifically providea.Expert guidance in data warehouse design, implementation, ETL provision, and the configuration of external interfaces.b.Extra resource to assist with the actual ‘work to be done’.c.Knowledge transfer to allow the internal team to maintain and progress the data warehouse without direct consultant intervention following project completion.The supplier should be able to demonstrate the capacity and experience of delivering enterprise data warehouse solutions. At least one of these reference sites will be an UK Higher Education Institute that will further evidence the experience of providing sector specific solutions.UK based support should be provided with the capacity to service onsite requests within agreed timeframes. Any agreed offsite support should be provided using a secure remote support mechanism.The University normally provides a range of environments e.g. development, UAT and live for each implementation of the SRS and the data warehouse environment will need to support this setup.Where training needs are identified the supplier should provide these for both technical and end user (if required) personnel, including any associated training manuals for retention by the University.