Situation

• Each year, approximately 2,500 non-computer science students at the University of Calgary take an introductory computer science course
• the course is mandatory for all 600 students at the University's Haskayne School of Business and must provide a solid foundation for them to build on in subsequent business courses
• the Haskayne School was participating with the computer Science Department in redesigning and redeveloping the course to improve the learning experience.

Approach

• Ron Murch, Senior Instructor with the Haskayne School of Business, was invited to try the TELUS Business Value of Integrated Communications (BVIC) self-assessment tool
• He decided to evaluate the course redesign project
• In addition to receiving the top-line results online, Murch requested a full, customized report
• Two TELUS representatives presented the report to Murch, giving him the opportunity to discuss the results and confirm its findings

Business benefits

• The questions asked in the BVIC self-assessment tool caused both Murch and the Haskayne School to think far more deeply about the partners involved in the project - including the Computer Science Department, the University's IT Department, Microsoft Canada and other administrative resources at the University.
• The School realized the importance of the students as partners, rather than just as users of the course
• As a result, certain aspects of the course were re-assessed and re-worked to improve learning outcomes even further
• The School also began to think beyond the completion of the project, and to consider what might be the next steps at the end of its life.

Solution

When Ron Murch, a Senior Instructor at the University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business, was invited to try out the new TELUS Business Value of Integrated Communications self-assessment tool, he was more than happy to do so.  Based on an in-depth IDC study of more than 200 businesses of all sizes, the tool enables users to evaluate any technology project, whether it's planned, in progress or complete, in order to determine the business value it can be expected to deliver.  "The fact that IDC was involved gave me a great degree of confidence," says Murch.   "The test also intrigued me.  I've been teaching IT at an MBA and Bachelor of Commerce level for about 25 years now and one of the most challenging aspects in dealing with any IT-intensive project is how to determine in advance whether it will be worth it.  That's the value question.  How do we know who's really deriving value, what the value is and how can we ensure that it is captures?"

At the time, Murch was part of a team redesigning and redeveloping a Computer Science course with a significant hands-on, on-line learning component.  The course is taken by approximately 2,500 of the University's students each year.  It is mandatory for all 600 students at the Haskayne School of Business and must provide a solid foundation for future business and technology courses, so it was particularly important to ensure that it delivered the right learning outcomes.

"When I went down the questions, I knew from my teaching experience that these were dimensions that were important areas to explore and to think about," says Murch.  After answering the 30 or so questions, he was presented with a brief topline summary.  He also elected to receive the full, complimentary report, which was presented to him in person by two TELUS representatives.  "What was particularly interesting to me was that they showed me not only how my responses fit into the complete set of responses from all the companies in their study, but also how we compared with what they referred to as our peer group.  We could see how we're doing relative to other, similar projects.  You can think of it in the context of best practices."

In the debriefing session, one area in particular intrigued Murch.  "When we came to the question about the value of this project to the various partners, it prompted me to start thinking about who those partners are.  I realized that not only were we at the School of Business partnering with the University's Department of Computer Science, we were also relying on the University's central IT department and the Information Commons - which is part of the University library system - for some of the delivery, and on Microsoft for some of the software collaboration and licensing and for guidance in appropriately fitting out our lab.  But perhaps most importantly, we were partnering with the students who will take this course.  In fact, they are probably one of the strongest partners we have.  Because the question was raised, it caused us to think more deeply about the value our students will derive.  We could then translate our insights into something meaningful for our university context."

Murch was also interested to discover that the question rated lowest by the entire group of respondents concerned the end of life of a project.  "I had also rated it quite low because it wasn't an area we'd given much thought to.  But, in the MBA courses I teach, one of the things I try to do is encourage students to think beyond the end of the current project.  When you implement an initiative, that isn't the end.  It's the start of something new, so thinking beyond the end is important.  Yet I hadn't been doing that particularly well and neither had anybody else.  Having this pointed out to me caused me to take some action that I think is going to bring us even more valued from the project in the long run."

Another important benefit of the tool was that it was able to provide so much meaningful input to a non-standard organization like a university.  "We perceive value in ways that are quite different from those used by a commercial enterprise.  But, because the questions are asked in the context of an actual project, you can apply this model to almost any technology."  As a result, Murch has no hesitation in recommending the tool to other organizations.

"Most businesses have their own internal tools to measure their planning and progress, so of course, it's not the only tool to use.  But, for just a relatively small investment of your time, you see where you stack up compared to your peers, you see the areas you haven't rated particularly highly and that can lead you to reconsider their importance to your project.  It also provides a standard framework for comparing the value across projects, so if you need to make prioritization decisions or a general judgment decision on which projects to undertake, in which order, this tool can be very helpful because it proves a standard context."

Perhaps most appealing of all for Murch is the fact that any organization can take the self-assessment with no obligation at all.  "None of this has anything to do with TELUS selling products.  They offer it as a general service, with no hooks or quid pro quo.  You can engage in it virtually any time you want, for any project.  It's quite unusual for an organization to be this altruistic.  Yes, TELUS will get leads, but it doesn't appear to me that they're doing this for immediate profit.  Instead, I think they're working to get to know their customers better.  They're taking a different approach, creating a dialogue to promote a deeper understanding."