In June 2017, work on the Banner 9 migration project focused on the following areas:
Reviewing modifications
Some universities use Banner right “out of the box,” without customizing it. The UO is at the other end of the spectrum. In the 27 years we’ve been using Banner, we’ve made about 650 modifications to customize Banner forms so they better match UO business processes.
Because Banner 9 uses a different programming language than Banner 8, each of those modifications will have to be re-engineered. Therefore, Information Services (IS) asked representatives from units across campus to review all of the modifications in their functional areas (e.g., finance or admissions) and, wherever possible, identify modifications that could be cut.
Our partners have made substantial progress in that work. In some areas, over 50% of modifications were deemed no longer necessary.
Developing new service-request process
With the help of campus partners, IS developed and launched a new process for requesting changes to Banner. The new process will help IS prioritize work and ensure timely completion of the Banner 9 migration.
Implementing new tools for developers
Banner 9 uses a new programming environment, which IS staff have installed and configured. IS staff have also made progress on implementing a new code management system.
Learning Banner 9
Given the extent of the changes in Banner 9, it has been a big undertaking to learn how to use the new system. Our campus partners have provided helpful feedback about the Banner 9 interface.
Next steps
Here’s what we’re focusing on now:
Bundling changes by business processes
The plan is to upgrade various administrative processes from Banner 8 to Banner 9 in a phased approach. We expect to start on this in August 2017 and complete it sometime in 2018. For example, all of the Banner 8 forms related to check processing will be migrated to Banner 9 at one time.
IS has asked our campus partners in each of the main functional areas to identify (by July 14) one or two business processes to focus on initially for their areas. Before any business process is moved to Banner 9, we will communicate with staff who are using that process, do testing, and allow time for training.
Installing routine Banner updates
Ellucian, the company behind Banner, recently released updates for both Banner 8 and Banner 9 that must be installed before we proceed with the migration to Banner 9. IS plans to install those on the designated Banner maintenance weekend of September 16-17, 2017.