Assessing Readiness for Metrix
See also:
Background
Metrix is currently in Phase III of its development and is thus a work in progress, designed to be owned by its community of users. This means that the Fund for the City of New York is working with developers and early users in New York City and beyond to eliminate bugs and develop other features that will allow for easy adoption. Metrix is most suitable in its current state for organizations that have a staff well-trained in Microsoft Office Suite, including Microsoft Access.
It is essential that any organization considering Metrix understand the realities of adopting a centralized database system as well as a community software product. The following are some of the important considerations:
- What are the realities of adopting a database system?
- This is a process that requires time, money and willingness to change the way work is done in your organization.
- What are the realities of working with a community software product?
- The product still contains bugs.
- The product will be undergoing changes and ongoing modifications.
- The process is optimal when clients are willing to share constructive feedback in a positive, community-spirited manner.
- What type of technical support is provided for a community software product?
- The initial line of support is the Metrix community: http://Metrix.fcny.org
.
- The free technical support is provided through the Metrix discussion lists by Metrix users, consultants and developers on a voluntary basis.
- What do we need to consider when implementing Metrix?
- Standards and best practices are available for consultants and organizational staff who will be creating customizations. These can be learned through the Metrix Implementation Guide, in the
Help feature and as a publication online. These are evolving documents, and you are strongly urged to follow the recommendations in this guide, and periodically stay abreast of developments and changes. In doing so, you or the clients with whom you are working, will be able to take full advantage of support from the Metrix community and future upgrades.
- As with any database implementation project, there are realities in terms of time line, down-time for the data migration process, and time and resources from organizational staff.
If you or the organization you are working with is considering Metrix or in the early stages of planning an implementation, we recommend that you take the The Metrix Readiness Survey.
