Progress report on the elimination of Backlog ofNational Certificate Vocational [NC (V)] Certificates

Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training

12 August 2015

Activity Since the Last Portfolio Committee Update

Collaboration between SITA, DHET and Umalusi has been increased substantially resulting in a small reduction in the NC (V) Certificate Backlog.

The OEM of the technology used to build the current DHET Examinations System software application has been appointed and given the mandate to coordinate “getting the backlog to zero” and “implementing measures to keep it at zero”.

The NC (V) Backlog Elimination Project “kicked off” on 27 July 2015 and will achieve its “zero backlog” objectives by end of January 2016.

2

Business Context of the Project

The core business application for DHET, from the beginning has not been properly synchronized with DHET & Umalusi business process changes and SOP changes. The Examinations System was copied from the NATED System

Level 2 & 3 Certificates specifically were not initially issued by Umalusi which cause differences in processing and SOPs

SOPs not properly documented from the beginning

As a result of the “out of sync” state of the DHET Examination and Assessment application, a backlog of NC (V) certificate requests has developed between the Examination Centers, DHET and Umalusi.

3

Business Context of the Project

The SITA, DHET & Umalusi management teams have received a mandate from the DHET Portfolio Committee to work together to resolve the NC (V) certificate backlog.

In response to the DHET Portfolio Committee mandate, SITA has contracted Software AG, the OEM of Natural/Adabas technology, to provide project management and technical resources to work with DHET, Umalusi and SITA stakeholders to jointly eliminate the backlog.

The primary objective of the NC (V) Certificate Backlog Elimination project is to “Get the NC (V) Certificate Backlog to Zero, and keep it at Zero”.

The targeted timeframe for elimination of the NC (V) Certificate Backlog is six months.

4

NC (V) CERTIFICATE BACKLOG PROBLEM

Understanding the

5

Project Background

Project was commissioned as a result of unresolved backlog of certification processing.

As of 6 August: 129,932 candidates are affected across all exam cycles, across all levels Not all candidates are waiting for full certificates, many are waiting for

subject certificates where candidates still have to complete certain subjects

Due to the consolidation issue in the Examinations system, the number of full certificates can go down depending on exam results

Subject certificates can go up or down depending on consolidation process

Some candidates ultimately will not receive any certifications if all subjects are not passed

6

Project Background

The backlog scope consists of: The original backlog project with Umalusi from 2007/11 to

2012/03, and

The period post this to date, through 2015/03

Project aims to stop backlog from growing by implementing: Corrective actions to the existing Examinations and Assessment

application

New tools and techniques to ensure consistent data validation

Capacity to ensure data is corrected prior to updating mainframe database

Enhance visibility of the enrollment and certification process

7

NC (V) Certificate Backlog Has Many Perspectives

NC (V) Certification Requests not yet Submitted to Umalusi by DHET. Examples are but not limited to: Candidates who have taken supplementary and

subsequent exams but could not be certificated due to defects in the consolidation function of the Exams system

Quality and completeness of the data submitted by the Exam centers; and Business logic gaps in the data validation functions within the Exam system

NC (V) Certification Requests Submitted by DHET but Rejected by Umalusi Duplicated records that are blocked by the Exam

system validity checks

Condonation function is defective in the Exam system

High level of absenteeism in main and supplementary exams

Changes of marks after standardization and statistical moderation

NC (V) Certification Requests not Printed due to Non-payment of certification fees to Umalusi by Exam centers 8

Simplification of the Problem

9

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

Simplification of the Problem

10

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

There are 5 Problem Domains

Simplification of the Problem

11

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

There are 5 Problem Domains

NC (V) Data Validation is too far “down stream” in the Candidate Enrollment and Certification business processes

Examination Centers do not have the capacity to do Data Integrity checks before submitting NC (V) data to DHET

“Garbage In” equals “Backlog Out”

Simplification of the Problem

12

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

There are 5 Problem Domains

Umalusi and DHET not fully aligned in their execution of the NC (V) Certification Business Process

Marks and Document Records not synchronized

There is no “Pre-Testing” functionality prior to submission to Umalusi

Change control is not fully operational when improving systems, directives, and certification rules

Simplification of the Problem

13

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

There are 5 Problem Domains

System is out of sync with current Directives and SOPs

Error resolution not implemented holistically, patches creating conflicts

There is no DHET “Pre-Testing” functionality prior to submission to Umalusi

Capacity requirements are not met in order to satisfy work demands and workforce changes

Simplification of the Problem

14

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

There are 5 Problem Domains SITA Technical Capacity is not sufficient to keep up

with DHET demands

Changes treated as maintenance work rather than full project work

SITA Support and Technical Teams have become a part of DHET NC (V) operations in order remediate Exam System functional shortcomings

All DHET NC (V) functional operations are not committed to the Examinations Software System, which consumes SITA technical resource capacity, reducing responsiveness to DHET requirements

Simplification of the Problem

15

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

There are 5 Problem Domains

Exam Centers and 3rd Party vendors of college management systems are limited to “batch” based interaction with the Examination system, instead of real time

Exam Centers cannot “stage” data and do data integrity checks before submitting data to DHET

DHET, Exam Centers and Umalusi do not use a common rule base for certificate processing

!!

The “Way Forward” for Solving the Problem

16

Examination Centers

DHETExaminations & Assessments

Umalusi

Enrollment Data

ExamMarks

Registration Process

Examination Process

Certification Candidates

Certification Process

Data Admin Process

RegistrationErrors &

Confirmations

CertificationErrors &

Confirmations

SITAMaintenance & Support Team

Empower Examinations Centers to ensure Data Integrity for Enrollment and Exam Data

Work towards straight through processing of certificates and a

common business rule base

Move all manual operational activities for NC (V) data and processing into the Exam system

Clearly define SOPs, work towards straight through processing

Create a staging portal to provide capacity to for data integrity,

visibility of performance

API Portal

Examination Center Portal

Rules & Validation Services

PROJECT OVERVIEW

NC (V) Certificate Backlog Elimination

17

Project Organization and Governance

18

Oversight Committee

Steering Committee

Project Management

Project Teams

SITADeputy CEO

DHET Director General

Umalusi CEO

SITASnr Technical

Manager

DHETChief

Director

UmalusiSnr Manager

Software AGCTO

Software AGSnr Project Manager

SITAExecutive

SITACEO

SITAProject Manager/

Snr Managers

DHETProject Manager/

Snr Manager

UmalusiProject Manager/

Snr Manager

SITA Support & Technical Teams

SITA Support & Technical Teams

DHETBusiness Users

DHETBusiness Users

UmalusiTechnical Team

UmalusiTechnical Team

Software AGTechnical TeamSoftware AG

Technical Team

SITASnr Support

Manager

Project Organization and Governance

Oversight Committee Project monitoring – final accountability

Meet once every two months, receives weekly status reporting

Steering Committee Provide advice and decision making

Meet once a month, weekly status reporting

Project Management Team Direct and coordinate project

Meet once a month

Project Teams Execute delivery

Meet once every fortnight

19

Project Approach: Target Alignment of NC (V) Certificate Processing Activity

20

Project Implemented in Three Work Streams

21

Get the Backlog to Zero

Keep it at Zero

Project Schedule: NC (V) Backlog Elimination

22

August 2015August 2015 SeptemberSeptember OctoberOctober NovemberNovember DecemberDecember Jan 2016Jan 2016

Project Initiation

Project Closed

Project Management during Project Execution Project Closure

Install & Configure

Provide STD NEE Documentation NATURAL Health Check

ADABAS Health Check Data Cleansing – Iterative Process Backlog

Reduced to 0

Install & Configure

Analysis - Certification and Enrollment – DHET, Umalusi, SITA View Create Dashboards

NATURAL Service Wrapping

NATURAL Event Config

Create API Portal

Design and Development – Enrollment and Registration Management Site Process Intelligence & Business Activity Monitoring

Process Enforcement, BPM and Governance

Backlog remains at 0

LEGEND

Project Management

Reduce BacklogTo 0

Keep BacklogAt 0

Post ImplementationSupport

Post ImplementationSupport

Thank You