Ambit Consulting

Distributed Medical Education & Technology Enabled Learning Program

In 2004, the UBC Faculty of Medicine (FOM) launched an innovative distributed medical education program together with the Government of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and the regional health authorities. AMBiT was engaged to manage the implementation of distance learning technology for the program only four months before students arrived for their first semester at the UBC campus. AMBiT successfully managed the implementation on schedule and reduced the operational budget by $2.5M to help the FOM obtain final approvals. AMBiT also provided strategic guidance in the formation of the Technology Enabled Learning (TEL) group. This inter-site group provides operational support for the distributed medical program's education technologies and ensures that these technologies continue to meet the faculty's requirements.

In 2005, AMBiT assisted the FOM in securing $36M in critical funding for the operation of the distributed medical program from the BC Ministries of Advanced Education and Health Services, including capital renewal funding for videoconference facilities. With those funds in place, AMBiT led the TEL group in long-term planning to meet the FOM's needs; as part of this planning, we assisted TEL in forming crucial linkages with senior Faculty leadership to allow the technology group to act as a strategic partner with academic faculty, rather than simply a service provider.

AMBiT continues to provide strategic program management for many of TEL's flagship strategic programs including the Curriculum Management and Educational Delivery Program to implement educational technology systems, and the Synchronous Communication Platform Program to expand and renew videoconferencing facilities and services that support the distributed medical education program.

MD Undergraduate Admissions System Renewal

The Medical Doctor (MD) Undergraduate Program within UBC's Faculty of Medicine identified the need to renew their admissions system to offer an improved user experience for applicants and program administrators. AMBiT managed the project to replace the current admissions system throughout the project lifecycle, including developing a business case, gathering functional requirements, issuing and evaluating a Request for Proposals, and successfully leading system implementation. Statistics from the first year of use have shown substantial cost savings, with users reporting improved interaction with the system. In addition, the system enabled a new admissions process that has helped the UBC Faculty of Medicine ensure the highest quality medical students by tracking analytics for longitudinal studies that improve medical student selection.

Administrative Application Technology (ADAPT)

The Administrative Application Technology (ADAPT) program was a $2.6M strategic initiative to replace disparate information systems in the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine with a centralized database and web application. This database contains demographic, salary, appointment, curriculum vitae, teaching, and other information about all Faculty of Medicine appointees, including faculty, staff, student employees, and postgraduate residents. These datasets were previously distributed amongst numerous smaller databases within individual departments and programs, with no effective mechanism for sharing and distributing the information.

AMBiT was involved in the formal initiation of the project, including developing a project charter, gathering and validating high level functional requirements, and selecting a software vendor through a Request for Proposal procurement process. AMBiT then managed the procurement and implementation of the new system, including ensuring proper communications across the faculty and integrating formal change management into project activities. Implementation included technical and functional system testing, user training for over 150 administrative staff, and the migration of data for 15,000 personnel. The system was implemented in December 2009 with approximately 1400 current users accessing the system.

Educational Technology Strategy Development and Implementation

The University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine engaged AMBiT to develop and implement an Educational Technology Strategy in support of its curriculum renewal process. AMBiT led a colloquium for senior academic leadership, faculty, staff, and nationally recognized experts in medical education to discuss the current state of educational technology and gather requirements for future investment. These requirements formed the basis of a five-year strategic roadmap for the Faculty that aligns technology investments with curricular requirements. The five investment areas identified within this report included:

1. Synchronous communication technologies, such as videoconferencing and web conferencing.
2. Curriculum management tools to improve the mapping of learning objectives to curricular activities and expand access of this curriculum map to educators and learners.
3. Learning object management tools to support the modularization of educational resources for reuse in various instructional contexts.
4. Special application educational technology tools to improve learning outcomes, such as virtual patients, human patient simulators, and ePortfolios.
5. Educational gateways to consolidate access to online resources, including a web portal and learning management system.

As a first step in implementing the strategic recommendations, AMBiT led an environmental scan of over 30 medical education institutions across Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom to identify relevant technology solutions. With greater market understanding, AMBiT led a requirements gathering process by engaging representatives from seven stakeholder groups and synthesized the results into functional, technical, and organizational requirements.

AMBiT next defined decision criteria based on project goals, stakeholder requirements, and cost considerations. Using these criteria, we led a product evaluation, including detailed functional, technical, and organizational evaluations on four shortlisted solutions. Based on results of this evaluation, AMBiT led the development of a recommendations report which framed key tradeoffs between organizational risk and product functionality. AMBiT continues to provide program and project management for the selection of specific applications, and implementation and integration of those products.

Distributed Medical Education & Technology Enabled Learning Program

In 2004, the UBC Faculty of Medicine (FOM) launched an innovative distributed medical education program together with the Government of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and the regional health authorities. AMBiT was engaged to manage the implementation of distance learning technology for the program only four months before students arrived for their first semester at the UBC campus. AMBiT successfully managed the implementation on schedule and reduced the operational budget by $2.5M to help the FOM obtain final approvals. AMBiT also provided strategic guidance in the formation of the Technology Enabled Learning (TEL) group. This inter-site group provides operational support for the distributed medical program's education technologies and ensures that these technologies continue to meet the faculty's requirements.

In 2005, AMBiT assisted the FOM in securing $36M in critical funding for the operation of the distributed medical program from the BC Ministries of Advanced Education and Health Services, including capital renewal funding for videoconference facilities. With those funds in place, AMBiT led the TEL group in long-term planning to meet the FOM's needs; as part of this planning, we assisted TEL in forming crucial linkages with senior Faculty leadership to allow the technology group to act as a strategic partner with academic faculty, rather than simply a service provider.

AMBiT continues to provide strategic program management for many of TEL's flagship strategic programs including the Curriculum Management and Educational Delivery Program to implement educational technology systems, and the Synchronous Communication Platform Program to expand and renew videoconferencing facilities and services that support the distributed medical education program.

Medical Provincial Academic & Affiliated Campus Technology (MPAACT)

In 2005 the Ministry of Health Services launched the Medical Provincial Affiliated Academic Campus Technology (MPAACT) initiative, a $14.8 M technology program that facilitates distributed medical education in teaching hospitals across BC through advanced videoconferencing. In managing the MPAACT program, AMBiT has been a key player in laying the foundation for a provincial shared services approach to telehealth in British Columbia.

AMBiT has now led the implementation of distributed medical education technology at more than 25 teaching hospitals across BC. This work has remained on time and on budget despite spanning the jurisdiction of 6 health authorities and 3 universities. To support this distributed network, AMBiT designed business processes and guided the implementation for a centralized Videoconference Service Desk. Through consultations with a geographically dispersed project team including representatives from the BC Ministry of Health Services, the UBC Faculty of Medicine, and BC First Nations, AMBiT has ensured that the infrastructure is now in place to support an integrated provincial telehealth strategy.

MD Undergraduate Admissions System Renewal

The Medical Doctor (MD) Undergraduate Program within UBC's Faculty of Medicine identified the need to renew their admissions system to offer an improved user experience for applicants and program administrators. AMBiT managed the project to replace the current admissions system throughout the project lifecycle, including developing a business case, gathering functional requirements, issuing and evaluating a Request for Proposals, and successfully leading system implementation. Statistics from the first year of use have shown substantial cost savings, with users reporting improved interaction with the system. In addition, the system enabled a new admissions process that has helped the UBC Faculty of Medicine ensure the highest quality medical students by tracking analytics for longitudinal studies that improve medical student selection.

Administrative Application Technology (ADAPT)

The Administrative Application Technology (ADAPT) program was a $2.6M strategic initiative to replace disparate information systems in the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine with a centralized database and web application. This database contains demographic, salary, appointment, curriculum vitae, teaching, and other information about all Faculty of Medicine appointees, including faculty, staff, student employees, and postgraduate residents. These datasets were previously distributed amongst numerous smaller databases within individual departments and programs, with no effective mechanism for sharing and distributing the information.

AMBiT was involved in the formal initiation of the project, including developing a project charter, gathering and validating high level functional requirements, and selecting a software vendor through a Request for Proposal procurement process. AMBiT then managed the procurement and implementation of the new system, including ensuring proper communications across the faculty and integrating formal change management into project activities. Implementation included technical and functional system testing, user training for over 150 administrative staff, and the migration of data for 15,000 personnel. The system was implemented in December 2009 with approximately 1400 current users accessing the system.

Educational Technology Strategy Development and Implementation

The University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine engaged AMBiT to develop and implement an Educational Technology Strategy in support of its curriculum renewal process. AMBiT led a colloquium for senior academic leadership, faculty, staff, and nationally recognized experts in medical education to discuss the current state of educational technology and gather requirements for future investment. These requirements formed the basis of a five-year strategic roadmap for the Faculty that aligns technology investments with curricular requirements. The five investment areas identified within this report included:

1. Synchronous communication technologies, such as videoconferencing and web conferencing.
2. Curriculum management tools to improve the mapping of learning objectives to curricular activities and expand access of this curriculum map to educators and learners.
3. Learning object management tools to support the modularization of educational resources for reuse in various instructional contexts.
4. Special application educational technology tools to improve learning outcomes, such as virtual patients, human patient simulators, and ePortfolios.
5. Educational gateways to consolidate access to online resources, including a web portal and learning management system.

As a first step in implementing the strategic recommendations, AMBiT led an environmental scan of over 30 medical education institutions across Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom to identify relevant technology solutions. With greater market understanding, AMBiT led a requirements gathering process by engaging representatives from seven stakeholder groups and synthesized the results into functional, technical, and organizational requirements.

AMBiT next defined decision criteria based on project goals, stakeholder requirements, and cost considerations. Using these criteria, we led a product evaluation, including detailed functional, technical, and organizational evaluations on four shortlisted solutions. Based on results of this evaluation, AMBiT led the development of a recommendations report which framed key tradeoffs between organizational risk and product functionality. AMBiT continues to provide program and project management for the selection of specific applications, and implementation and integration of those products.

Medical Provincial Academic & Affiliated Campus Technology (MPAACT)

In 2005 the Ministry of Health Services launched the Medical Provincial Affiliated Academic Campus Technology (MPAACT) initiative, a $14.8 M technology program that facilitates distributed medical education in teaching hospitals across BC through advanced videoconferencing. In managing the MPAACT program, AMBiT has been a key player in laying the foundation for a provincial shared services approach to telehealth in British Columbia.

AMBiT has now led the implementation of distributed medical education technology at more than 25 teaching hospitals across BC. This work has remained on time and on budget despite spanning the jurisdiction of 6 health authorities and 3 universities. To support this distributed network, AMBiT designed business processes and guided the implementation for a centralized Videoconference Service Desk. Through consultations with a geographically dispersed project team including representatives from the BC Ministry of Health Services, the UBC Faculty of Medicine, and BC First Nations, AMBiT has ensured that the infrastructure is now in place to support an integrated provincial telehealth strategy.

Integrated Library System

The UBC Library is the second largest research library in Canada and includes 21 branches and divisions. The library engaged AMBiT to design a strategy for the selection and implementation of a new Integrated Library System. Through innovative requirements definition, expert facilitation, and rigorous analysis, AMBiT completed the $3M project on budget and set the record for what was the fastest system selection and implementation of any academic research library system in North America.

In a four-month time frame, AMBiT managed requirements gathering, RFP development, vendor selection, and contract negotiations. Following the successful project acquisition phase, AMBiT led six internal groups and a cross-departmental team to manage the implementation of the new system in seven months. The implementation included technical and functional system testing and integration, user training for over 300 library staff, and the migration of over 10 million records.

Digital Library & Supplemental System Implementation

Following AMBiT's successful selection and implementation of their integrated library system, the UBC Library engaged AMBiT to manage a suite of strategic projects. Below are selected highlights from these projects.

AMBiT's team led cross-organizational working groups to complete the implementation of the library's first enterprise digital resource access and digital collection management system. As part of the implementation, we led the development of key management policies for the system, and assisted in developing the communications strategy for the project.

AMBiT provided project planning, guidance, and support in the relocation of several dozen staff, office equipment and over $1.5M in books and related materials to the new $60M, 250,000 square-foot Irving K. Barber Learning Center. AMBiT also managed the implementation of an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) in the new Learning Center, including software and hardware procurement, installation, implementation, documentation, and training.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Campus AV Technology Implementation

The Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program is the result of an initiative of the Government of New Brunswick, the University of New Brunswick, and Dalhousie University's Faculty of Medicine to train and retain medical doctors in historically under-served areas. The DMNB distributed medical education program is an expansion of Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine and offers English-speaking New Brunswick students the opportunity to attend medical school in their home province.

AMBiT was first engaged by Dalhousie University in 2007 to develop technology requirements and a technology budget for the distributed program. After assisting in securing $6.6M in capital funding plus associated operating funds for required technology infrastructure, AMBiT led the technology implementation for both university campuses to commission 13 distance education videoconference rooms and two control rooms across two provinces. AMBiT also managed procurement of almost $5M in equipment as well as design, programming, and installation services.

AMBiT's contribution allowed the DMNB program to obtain sufficient funds to implement one of the most advanced distributed medical programs in North America. The project was completed on time and under budget in spite of significant construction delays, and has received excellent initial reviews from students, faculty and staff. Dalhousie has hosted visits from many other institutions interested in the approach.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Clinical AV Technology Implementation

Dalhousie University retained AMBiT to implement the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick distributed medical education program in four New Brunswick hospital sites. These sites provide videoconference facilities for use by program administration and for providing clerkship education to third and fourth year medical students in rural communities. In this project, AMBiT worked closely with hospital staff to conduct site inspections and ensure infrastructure integration with the videoconference technologies, observing strict infection control procedures and hospital guidelines. From October 2010 to June 2011, AMBiT managed the implementation, programming and commissioning of the seven new videoconference suites, including integration of these new distributed facilities with pre-existing facilities in Saint John and Halifax. At the time of writing, the project was trending under budget, with completion expected well before the program's required start date in Summer 2012.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick AV Technology Transition to Operations

While project managing the technology implementation of the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program, AMBiT recognized the requirement for strong change management and communication to ensure a successful launch in September 2010. To achieve this, AMBiT led a 3-month project to transition the DMNB AV facilities to operations. This included development of a broad stakeholder communication plan, policies governing usage of the facilities, procedures for technical support and room booking, and training of faculty and staff. AMBiT was present on-site during a 'prototypical week', a dry run of the DMNB program in August 2010, and provided guidance and expertise to the technical support teams. DMNB launched in September 2010 with a cohesive and highly functioning operations team and full buy-in from faculty and students.

Building on the successful transition to operations for DMNB facilities, AMBiT was retained to transition seven clinical sites to operations as an integrated part of the distributed medical education program. AMBiT's work included the adaptation of current policies and business processes to varied hospital environments and creating training and communications plans for hospital staff.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick AV Technology Transition to Operations

While project managing the technology implementation of the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program, AMBiT recognized the requirement for strong change management and communication to ensure a successful launch in September 2010. To achieve this, AMBiT led a 3-month project to transition the DMNB AV facilities to operations. This included development of a broad stakeholder communication plan, policies governing usage of the facilities, procedures for technical support and room booking, and training of faculty and staff. AMBiT was present on-site during a 'prototypical week', a dry run of the DMNB program in August 2010, and provided guidance and expertise to the technical support teams. DMNB launched in September 2010 with a cohesive and highly functioning operations team and full buy-in from faculty and students.

Building on the successful transition to operations for DMNB facilities, AMBiT was retained to transition seven clinical sites to operations as an integrated part of the distributed medical education program. AMBiT's work included the adaptation of current policies and business processes to varied hospital environments and creating training and communications plans for hospital staff.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick AV Technology Transition to Operations

While project managing the technology implementation of the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program, AMBiT recognized the requirement for strong change management and communication to ensure a successful launch in September 2010. To achieve this, AMBiT led a 3-month project to transition the DMNB AV facilities to operations. This included development of a broad stakeholder communication plan, policies governing usage of the facilities, procedures for technical support and room booking, and training of faculty and staff. AMBiT was present on-site during a 'prototypical week', a dry run of the DMNB program in August 2010, and provided guidance and expertise to the technical support teams. DMNB launched in September 2010 with a cohesive and highly functioning operations team and full buy-in from faculty and students.

Building on the successful transition to operations for DMNB facilities, AMBiT was retained to transition seven clinical sites to operations as an integrated part of the distributed medical education program. AMBiT's work included the adaptation of current policies and business processes to varied hospital environments and creating training and communications plans for hospital staff.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Campus AV Technology Implementation

The Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program is the result of an initiative of the Government of New Brunswick, the University of New Brunswick, and Dalhousie University's Faculty of Medicine to train and retain medical doctors in historically under-served areas. The DMNB distributed medical education program is an expansion of Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine and offers English-speaking New Brunswick students the opportunity to attend medical school in their home province.

AMBiT was first engaged by Dalhousie University in 2007 to develop technology requirements and a technology budget for the distributed program. After assisting in securing $6.6M in capital funding plus associated operating funds for required technology infrastructure, AMBiT led the technology implementation for both university campuses to commission 13 distance education videoconference rooms and two control rooms across two provinces. AMBiT also managed procurement of almost $5M in equipment as well as design, programming, and installation services.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick AV Technology Transition to Operations

While project managing the technology implementation of the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program, AMBiT recognized the requirement for strong change management and communication to ensure a successful launch in September 2010. To achieve this, AMBiT led a 3-month project to transition the DMNB AV facilities to operations. This included development of a broad stakeholder communication plan, policies governing usage of the facilities, procedures for technical support and room booking, and training of faculty and staff. AMBiT was present on-site during a 'prototypical week', a dry run of the DMNB program in August 2010, and provided guidance and expertise to the technical support teams. DMNB launched in September 2010 with a cohesive and highly functioning operations team and full buy-in from faculty and students.

Building on the successful transition to operations for DMNB facilities, AMBiT was retained to transition seven clinical sites to operations as an integrated part of the distributed medical education program. AMBiT's work included the adaptation of current policies and business processes to varied hospital environments and creating training and communications plans for hospital staff.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Clinical AV Technology Implementation

Dalhousie University retained AMBiT to implement the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick distributed medical education program in four New Brunswick hospital sites. These sites provide videoconference facilities for use by program administration and for providing clerkship education to third and fourth year medical students in rural communities. In this project, AMBiT worked closely with hospital staff to conduct site inspections and ensure infrastructure integration with the videoconference technologies, observing strict infection control procedures and hospital guidelines. From October 2010 to June 2011, AMBiT managed the implementation, programming and commissioning of the seven new videoconference suites, including integration of these new distributed facilities with pre-existing facilities in Saint John and Halifax. At the time of writing, the project was trending under budget, with completion expected well before the program's required start date in Summer 2012.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Campus AV Technology Implementation

The Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program is the result of an initiative of the Government of New Brunswick, the University of New Brunswick, and Dalhousie University's Faculty of Medicine to train and retain medical doctors in historically under-served areas. The DMNB distributed medical education program is an expansion of Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine and offers English-speaking New Brunswick students the opportunity to attend medical school in their home province.

AMBiT was first engaged by Dalhousie University in 2007 to develop technology requirements and a technology budget for the distributed program. After assisting in securing $6.6M in capital funding plus associated operating funds for required technology infrastructure, AMBiT led the technology implementation for both university campuses to commission 13 distance education videoconference rooms and two control rooms across two provinces. AMBiT also managed procurement of almost $5M in equipment as well as design, programming, and installation services.

AMBiT's contribution allowed the DMNB program to obtain sufficient funds to implement one of the most advanced distributed medical programs in North America. The project was completed on time and under budget in spite of significant construction delays, and has received excellent initial reviews from students, faculty and staff. Dalhousie has hosted visits from many other institutions interested in the approach.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Clinical AV Technology Implementation

Dalhousie University retained AMBiT to implement the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick distributed medical education program in four New Brunswick hospital sites. These sites provide videoconference facilities for use by program administration and for providing clerkship education to third and fourth year medical students in rural communities. In this project, AMBiT worked closely with hospital staff to conduct site inspections and ensure infrastructure integration with the videoconference technologies, observing strict infection control procedures and hospital guidelines. From October 2010 to June 2011, AMBiT managed the implementation, programming and commissioning of the seven new videoconference suites, including integration of these new distributed facilities with pre-existing facilities in Saint John and Halifax. At the time of writing, the project was trending under budget, with completion expected well before the program's required start date in Summer 2012.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Campus AV Technology Implementation

The Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program is the result of an initiative of the Government of New Brunswick, the University of New Brunswick, and Dalhousie University's Faculty of Medicine to train and retain medical doctors in historically under-served areas. The DMNB distributed medical education program is an expansion of Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine and offers English-speaking New Brunswick students the opportunity to attend medical school in their home province.

AMBiT was first engaged by Dalhousie University in 2007 to develop technology requirements and a technology budget for the distributed program. After assisting in securing $6.6M in capital funding plus associated operating funds for required technology infrastructure, AMBiT led the technology implementation for both university campuses to commission 13 distance education videoconference rooms and two control rooms across two provinces. AMBiT also managed procurement of almost $5M in equipment as well as design, programming, and installation services.

AMBiT's contribution allowed the DMNB program to obtain sufficient funds to implement one of the most advanced distributed medical programs in North America. The project was completed on time and under budget in spite of significant construction delays, and has received excellent initial reviews from students, faculty and staff. Dalhousie has hosted visits from many other institutions interested in the approach.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Clinical AV Technology Implementation

Dalhousie University retained AMBiT to implement the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick distributed medical education program in four New Brunswick hospital sites. These sites provide videoconference facilities for use by program administration and for providing clerkship education to third and fourth year medical students in rural communities. In this project, AMBiT worked closely with hospital staff to conduct site inspections and ensure infrastructure integration with the videoconference technologies, observing strict infection control procedures and hospital guidelines. From October 2010 to June 2011, AMBiT managed the implementation, programming and commissioning of the seven new videoconference suites, including integration of these new distributed facilities with pre-existing facilities in Saint John and Halifax. At the time of writing, the project was trending under budget, with completion expected well before the program's required start date in Summer 2012.

SuperNet Videoconferencing Core Service

The purpose of the Alberta SuperNet Videoconferencing Core Service Project was to develop recommendations for a province-wide videoconferencing network that improves access to services, particularly for Albertans living in rural and remote areas. Sponsoring ministries for the initiative included Alberta Health and Wellness, Alberta Education, and Alberta Advanced Education. AMBiT developed a consultation plan for stakeholder sessions throughout the province of Alberta and facilitated 13 workshops to gather input on designing, implementing, and sustaining the proposed service. These workshops took place in 10 towns and cities across Alberta with participants representing 5 sectors and 123 separate organizations. Based on the results of the stakeholder consultations, AMBiT developed a business model for core service delivery including recommendations for management, financial, and governance.

Integrated Portfolio Planning 2

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is undergoing a multi-year, organization-wide business transformation initiative to improve customer and employee experience while maintaining financial stability. AMBiT was engaged to assist the crown corporation with the development of a change management and communications strategy in support of one of their key projects, the reimplementation of a project forecasting and tracking system. Working alongside the project team, AMBiT defined an overall change approach, identified and engaged key stakeholders, and implemented a communications plan to reach the 800+ users of the system. AMBiT's contribution in the development and implementation of a structured change management approach will help ICBC to maximize its return on this multi-million dollar investment, enabling ICBC to achieve its wider strategic goals.

Power Smart Marketing Initiatives

Power Smart plays an important role in achieving BC Hydro's long-term energy conservation targets. AMBiT was engaged to provide project management and business analysis for several department initiatives. AMBiT developed a business case for Power Smart Marketing to provide key stakeholders with a comprehensive explanation of decision making processes, funding allocations and performance measurement for Public Awareness, Education, and Community Engagement (PAECE) initiatives. AMBiT interviewed BC Hydro employees, conducted research on social marketing campaigns, and analyzed this information to develop a compelling argument for PAECE expenditures.

AMBiT also developed a strategic plan for the Power Smart Alliance, a group that encourages the adoption of energy efficient technologies by manufacturers, distributors and contractors. The plan included recommendations on how to target small and medium businesses, and provided a way for the Alliance to convey its goals to the rest BC Hydro. AMBiT also prepared a three-year operational plan for the Alliance that detailed key initiatives for the training of electrical contractors in energy efficient practices, particularly in the area of lighting.

Concept Paper for Treasury Board Submission

Camosun College engaged AMBiT to develop a compelling business case for a $50M building to house a new Centre for Excellence in Health and Wellness. AMBiT worked with the senior management team to articulate salient benefits from a range of stakeholder perspectives, craft a cohesive and convincing argument, and provide financial benefit models justifying the investment from organizational and provincial perspectives. With AMBiT's help Camosun developed a persuasive case to engage its funders and stakeholders in support of their capital development.

Canadian Telehealth Scheduling

Canada Health Infoway (CHI) is an initiative of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, the aim of which is to foster and accelerate the development and adoption of electronic health information systems with compatible standards and communication technologies across Canada. As part of its Telehealth Investment Program, Infoway undertook a project to invest in a pan-Canadian telehealth scheduling solution.

AMBiT worked with telehealth stakeholders from all Canadian jurisdictions to identify functional and technical requirements for scheduling services and facilitate agreement among stakeholders with diverse perspectives. In parallel, AMBiT conducted an environmental scan of the broader telehealth scheduling industry to identify software options, and presented these to the Project Steering Committee for their consideration.

AMBiT then led the development of a Request for Information, including a framework that could be used by Infoway to seek out alternative solutions offering best value, devised an evaluation methodology, and formed an evaluation committee comprised of key stakeholders. AMBiT assisted in the evaluation of RFI submissions and solutions through vendor demonstrations and developed a final report with recommendations for the best strategic solution.

Infoway adopted AMBiT's recommendations and the result was an investment decision by Infoway in February 2007, something that Infoway had been trying to achieve for three years and which AMBiT accomplished on their behalf in seven months.

Five Year Business Plan

Circle Craft is a Vancouver-based crafts co-operative that has been in operation for over 25 years. AMBiT developed a five year strategic business plan for Circle Craft to guide organizational renewal. As part of a current state analysis, we carried out interviews with directors and staff, observed the co-operative's retail operation, and conducted market research. Additionally, AMBiT developed and completed a membership survey and facilitated a membership strategy workshop. Final business plan topics included communications, marketing, succession planning, membership retention and renewal, information technology infrastructure, and staff compensation.

Data Centre Relocation

The Inter Tribal Health Authority (ITHA) represents 29 First Nations communities in British Columbia. ITHA provides a range of services to its member communities, many of which rely heavily on its data centre. With significant expansion of services to First Nations communities planned, AMBiT was engaged to help manage the data centre relocation from Nanaimo to a secure co-location facility in downtown Vancouver. AMBiT led the distributed project team to plan the move, secure and prepare the new facility, develop a technical architecture, procure hardware, coordinate the logistics of the physical move, establish appropriate connectivity, and manage communications. The new facility improves security, capacity and the quality of service delivered to member communities.

CoCASA Adaptation

Health Canada partnered with the Inter Tribal Health Authority (ITHA) to explore ways of improving immunization coverage rates in First Nations communities in Canada. AMBiT provided overall project management and communications services in support of this project to customize the United States' Centre for Disease Control Comprehensive Clinical Assessment Software Application (CoCASA) which enables tracking and evaluation of the impact of immunization in a geographical region. The project team customized the CoCASA application to meet Canadian standards in accordance with provincial immunization schedules. AMBiT managed the project to budget and schedule, delivering the customized application, renamed the Canadian Immunization Assessment Tool (CIAT), in time for a pilot with First Nation communities across Canada.

Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services Communications Strategy

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is undertaking the Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services (CvSSS) project, a $6.8M initiative to improve access to healthcare, promote continuity of health services in rural regions, and enhance medical training in western Québec through videoconferencing technology. The project aims to deploy 125 videoconference endpoints in clinical sites throughout the region in less than 1 year; however, this goal is challenged by deteriorating public perceptions of telehealth initiatives in Québec.

Recognizing that the success of the CvSSS project is contingent on its adoption by health care leaders, healthcare professionals and the general population, the CvSSS project team brought in AMBiT to develop a communications strategy and implementation plan. AMBiT conducted several information gathering sessions to identify key stakeholders and communications needs. It then refined the project team structure by examining existing deployment processes and assigning communications roles, and developed strategies to ensure successful technology deployments, high adoption rates, and continued political/economical support. AMBiT also conducted a gap analysis on the existing training plan and provided recommendations. The final communications plan was adopted by the CvSSS project team for submission to the Québec Ministry of Health and Social Services as a part of a request for continued project funding.

Medical Education Expansion

Memorial University of Newfoundland's Faculty of Medicine is expanding its undergraduate program by increasing the class size and providing new teaching, research and simulation space. A new 6-story building will increase the physical footprint of the Faculty, and offers the University an opportunity to restructure the curriculum. The University engaged AMBiT to inform and guide the integration of technology requirements into the building design process. AMBiT rapidly recognized the need to develop clear technology guidelines for the building team, and worked with the University to procure the services of a specialized audio-visual consultant. Under short timelines, we identified a group of core stakeholders composed of the building design team, the University's education technology specialists, audio-visual designers, and technology vendors. We led workshops to define achievable and realistic technology requirements and ensured that those were appropriately communicated and integrated into the infrastructure tender package. As a result of AMBiT's involvement, Memorial University was able to complete the building tender on time, with the assurance that it will adequately support a complex and advanced medical education technology infrastructure. The project set the stage for improved standards for medical education and medical care in the region.

New Nursing Building Design

AMBiT is part of a team of consultants providing functional space planning services for an expansion to the School of Nursing at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's campus. In its role, AMBiT is helping to articulate the functional requirements for a range of learning spaces, including simulation labs and distributed learning facilities. In addition to reviewing physical space requirements for the expansion, the final report will also examine the functional space utilization for existing School of Nursing facilities, including the optimal manner to relocate and cluster groups within existing and new space. Report content will include documenting key issues, priority space uses, principal design parameters, location, and costs. The report will also consider current plans related to the consolidation of the Schools of Nursing and the potential for inter-professional programs outside St. John's.

Industry Assessment of Organization Meeting Centres

AMBiT performed an environmental scan and analysis for Nexen Inc. to help determine whether it should build its own meeting centre. AMBiT interviewed four organizations to evaluate each of their meeting centres against development and use criteria verified with Nexen. The team then delivered a report and presentation containing key findings and operations guidelines to Nexen representatives.

Physician Information Management Solutions

AMBiT provided business analysis and project management services to the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCH), and Providence Healthcare (PHC) to relocate the VCH and PHC's instances of Provider Information Management Solution (PIMS) applications into the PHSA data centre. PIMS represents a suite of administrative applications enabling $70M in paperless sessional compensation, credentialing and privileging, as well as on-call scheduling and viewing. The project was developed to enhance sustainability, security, and access to the applications without impacting existing business processes for Medical Affairs and Physician Compensation in each Health Authority.

In 2010, AMBiT was engaged to facilitate collaboration among PHSA, VCH, and PCH in this early Lower Mainland Consolidation project, while enabling successful relocation through the development of a detailed technical, testing, and communications plan. AMBiT prepared a privacy impact assessment for the applications, the environment, and the access approach to ensure legislative compliance, and facilitated the development of transition to operations strategies to ensure a shared understanding and agreement on PIMS support following the relocation. Further, AMBiT provided recommendations to improve governance and enable effective sustainment of PIMS for PHSA, VCH, and PHC until provincial governance strategy is developed for application enhancement and support. PHSA, VCH, and PHC have realized improved operational efficiencies and enhanced security controls of the PIMS systems and have gained considerable momentum in alignment with the Lower Mainland Consolidation effort.

RCMP E Division Relocation Integrated Workplace Solutions Pilot

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are in the process of building a new facility to house the RCMP's E Division Headquarters in Surrey, BC. The facility, referred to as Green Timbers, will allow for the relocation and consolidation of approximately 25 separate offices dispersed throughout the Metro Vancouver. This $966M project is the largest federal accommodation project in the Pacific Region to date and will house approximately 2,700 E Division personnel.

In order to plan for Green Timbers, the relocation team conducted a pilot of new furniture systems and layouts with four RCMP workgroups. AMBiT provided project and change management support for this initiative, including a project plan for the pilot to ensure alignment of effort within the project team. AMBiT led the implementation of a stakeholder engagement strategy, including development of all communications material. Lessons learned from the pilot were consolidated in a final report outlining furniture, design, change management, and transition recommendations for the greater relocation project.

RCMP E Division Relocation Knowledge Management

AMBiT provided strategic guidance to Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) in support of the RCMP E Division Relocation Project, a Public Private Partnership (P3). The goal of the RCMP E Division Relocation Project is to consolidate the headquarters of the RCMP's E Division within Metro Vancouver by building a new facility at Green Timbers in Surrey. This $966M project is the largest federal accommodation project in the Pacific Region to date. At completion, the new division headquarters will house 2,700 E Division personnel.

As part of PWGSC's knowledge management strategy, AMBiT authored a report on the principles and best practices that should guide PWGSC during the Request for Qualification stage of future P3 projects. The best practices in this report were based on two lessons learned workshops and a risk management brainstorming session that AMBiT facilitated with participation by PWGSC, the RCMP, and various project advisors. AMBiT further distilled these best practices into a set of key principles that are fundamental to the successful completion of any PWGSC P3 procurement effort.

In addition, AMBiT worked to help PWGSC build a highly effective owner's team by facilitating team-building events and providing change management advice. In this role, AMBiT helped the PWGSC sub-team to identify key behavioural norms by which the team would operate, and asked the team measure their performance against these norms over time. AMBiT also guided the PWGSC sub-team in understanding the complex interests of various stakeholder groups and identifying areas of competing interests between these groups.

In April 2010, the contract to design, build, finance, and maintain the new facility was successfully awarded to Green Timbers Accommodation Partners. The date for completion of construction is December 2012.

Conference Management System

The RCPSC engaged AMBiT to identify and implement a new conference management system that would support and improve RCPSC's event management operations. In the first phase of the project, AMBiT facilitated agreement on system requirements, prepared and issued a Request for Information for conference management systems, evaluated potential solutions, and made an investment recommendation.

After the RCPSC adopted AMBiT's recommendation, AMBiT was retained to continue providing project management and stakeholder communications services during the acquisition and implementation phases. AMBiT's scope of work included conducting vendor contract negotiations, developing an implementation strategy, and system testing. In order to ensure stakeholder readiness, AMBiT also identified business process gaps to be addressed during implementation, coordinated user training sessions, and developed training materials for system administrators and power users. The system was successfully implemented, enabling the RCPSC to increase overall efficiency of event management, registration, and administration.

University Networking Program

The University Networking Program (UNP) was a four-year initiative to bring high-speed data connectivity to over 175 buildings at UBC's Point Grey campus. The UNP represented a strategic transformation in UBC's IT services, signifying a shift from a decentralized IM/IT approach to one characterized by a centrally led and provisioned core infrastructure. AMBiT was engaged when the project faced challenges in identifying a cost effective solution. Using creative strategies and formal value analysis, AMBiT facilitated a strategic re-envisioning of the technological solution, reducing the overall program budget from $75M to $30M while retaining functional scope. Despite involving the largest campus deployment of 802.11 wireless connectivity in the world, AMBiT managed this program to completion on budget and six months ahead of schedule.

Learning Space Design Guidelines

AMBiT worked with the Resource Planning Group (RPG) to develop new Learning Space Design Guidelines for the University of British Columbia (UBC). AMBiT leveraged its expertise in classroom technologies and knowledge of current best practices to produce a recommendations report to guide UBC's use of Collaborative Media and AV technology in higher education. The report also included a gap analysis between UBC's Audio Visual Guidelines document and the best practices required to support rapidly evolving learning modalities used by higher educational institutions.

Project and Management Consulting

AMBiT was engaged by senior leadership at World Vision International to examine their approach to project, change, and communications management on major strategic initiatives. Rather than discuss abstract models, AMBiT requested to work with a program team to identify problems and potential solutions for World Vision's approach to change management projects.

AMBiT worked with the SERVE program team, a group charged with developing a global shared services department. AMBiT provided guidance to SERVE during the initial phases of program charter development, including facilitating a workshop for the program team and creating a chartering tool for World Vision's Project Management Office (PMO).

Based on the observations of the SERVE team and conversation with the PMO and World Vision leadership, AMBiT developed a report that recommended ways to improve project selection and management to increase project impact and improve the use of donor funds. AMBiT presented these findings to senior World Vision leadership, including the Senior Vice-President for Organizational Effectiveness.

University Networking Program

The University Networking Program (UNP) was a four-year initiative to bring high-speed data connectivity to over 175 buildings at UBC's Point Grey campus. The UNP represented a strategic transformation in UBC's IT services, signifying a shift from a decentralized IM/IT approach to one characterized by a centrally led and provisioned core infrastructure. AMBiT was engaged when the project faced challenges in identifying a cost effective solution. Using creative strategies and formal value analysis, AMBiT facilitated a strategic re-envisioning of the technological solution, reducing the overall program budget from $75M to $30M while retaining functional scope. Despite involving the largest campus deployment of 802.11 wireless connectivity in the world, AMBiT managed this program to completion on budget and six months ahead of schedule.

Learning Space Design Guidelines

AMBiT worked with the Resource Planning Group (RPG) to develop new Learning Space Design Guidelines for the University of British Columbia (UBC). AMBiT leveraged its expertise in classroom technologies and knowledge of current best practices to produce a recommendations report to guide UBC's use of Collaborative Media and AV technology in higher education. The report also included a gap analysis between UBC's Audio Visual Guidelines document and the best practices required to support rapidly evolving learning modalities used by higher educational institutions.

Concept Paper for Treasury Board Submission

Camosun College engaged AMBiT to develop a compelling business case for a $50M building to house a new Centre for Excellence in Health and Wellness. AMBiT worked with the senior management team to articulate salient benefits from a range of stakeholder perspectives, craft a cohesive and convincing argument, and provide financial benefit models justifying the investment from organizational and provincial perspectives. With AMBiT's help Camosun developed a persuasive case to engage its funders and stakeholders in support of their capital development.

Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services Communications Strategy

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is undertaking the Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services (CvSSS) project, a $6.8M initiative to improve access to healthcare, promote continuity of health services in rural regions, and enhance medical training in western Québec through videoconferencing technology. The project aims to deploy 125 videoconference endpoints in clinical sites throughout the region in less than 1 year; however, this goal is challenged by deteriorating public perceptions of telehealth initiatives in Québec.

Recognizing that the success of the CvSSS project is contingent on its adoption by health care leaders, healthcare professionals and the general population, the CvSSS project team brought in AMBiT to develop a communications strategy and implementation plan. AMBiT conducted several information gathering sessions to identify key stakeholders and communications needs. It then refined the project team structure by examining existing deployment processes and assigning communications roles, and developed strategies to ensure successful technology deployments, high adoption rates, and continued political/economical support. AMBiT also conducted a gap analysis on the existing training plan and provided recommendations. The final communications plan was adopted by the CvSSS project team for submission to the Québec Ministry of Health and Social Services as a part of a request for continued project funding.

SuperNet Videoconferencing Core Service

The purpose of the Alberta SuperNet Videoconferencing Core Service Project was to develop recommendations for a province-wide videoconferencing network that improves access to services, particularly for Albertans living in rural and remote areas. Sponsoring ministries for the initiative included Alberta Health and Wellness, Alberta Education, and Alberta Advanced Education. AMBiT developed a consultation plan for stakeholder sessions throughout the province of Alberta and facilitated 13 workshops to gather input on designing, implementing, and sustaining the proposed service. These workshops took place in 10 towns and cities across Alberta with participants representing 5 sectors and 123 separate organizations. Based on the results of the stakeholder consultations, AMBiT developed a business model for core service delivery including recommendations for management, financial, and governance.

Concept Paper for Treasury Board Submission

Camosun College engaged AMBiT to develop a compelling business case for a $50M building to house a new Centre for Excellence in Health and Wellness. AMBiT worked with the senior management team to articulate salient benefits from a range of stakeholder perspectives, craft a cohesive and convincing argument, and provide financial benefit models justifying the investment from organizational and provincial perspectives. With AMBiT's help Camosun developed a persuasive case to engage its funders and stakeholders in support of their capital development.

Medical Education Expansion

Memorial University of Newfoundland's Faculty of Medicine is expanding its undergraduate program by increasing the class size and providing new teaching, research and simulation space. A new 6-story building will increase the physical footprint of the Faculty, and offers the University an opportunity to restructure the curriculum. The University engaged AMBiT to inform and guide the integration of technology requirements into the building design process. AMBiT rapidly recognized the need to develop clear technology guidelines for the building team, and worked with the University to procure the services of a specialized audio-visual consultant. Under short timelines, we identified a group of core stakeholders composed of the building design team, the University's education technology specialists, audio-visual designers, and technology vendors. We led workshops to define achievable and realistic technology requirements and ensured that those were appropriately communicated and integrated into the infrastructure tender package. As a result of AMBiT's involvement, Memorial University was able to complete the building tender on time, with the assurance that it will adequately support a complex and advanced medical education technology infrastructure. The project set the stage for improved standards for medical education and medical care in the region.

New Nursing Building Design

AMBiT is part of a team of consultants providing functional space planning services for an expansion to the School of Nursing at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's campus. In its role, AMBiT is helping to articulate the functional requirements for a range of learning spaces, including simulation labs and distributed learning facilities. In addition to reviewing physical space requirements for the expansion, the final report will also examine the functional space utilization for existing School of Nursing facilities, including the optimal manner to relocate and cluster groups within existing and new space. Report content will include documenting key issues, priority space uses, principal design parameters, location, and costs. The report will also consider current plans related to the consolidation of the Schools of Nursing and the potential for inter-professional programs outside St. John's.

Canadian Telehealth Scheduling

Canada Health Infoway (CHI) is an initiative of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, the aim of which is to foster and accelerate the development and adoption of electronic health information systems with compatible standards and communication technologies across Canada. As part of its Telehealth Investment Program, Infoway undertook a project to invest in a pan-Canadian telehealth scheduling solution.

AMBiT worked with telehealth stakeholders from all Canadian jurisdictions to identify functional and technical requirements for scheduling services and facilitate agreement among stakeholders with diverse perspectives. In parallel, AMBiT conducted an environmental scan of the broader telehealth scheduling industry to identify software options, and presented these to the Project Steering Committee for their consideration.

AMBiT then led the development of a Request for Information, including a framework that could be used by Infoway to seek out alternative solutions offering best value, devised an evaluation methodology, and formed an evaluation committee comprised of key stakeholders. AMBiT assisted in the evaluation of RFI submissions and solutions through vendor demonstrations and developed a final report with recommendations for the best strategic solution.

Infoway adopted AMBiT's recommendations and the result was an investment decision by Infoway in February 2007, something that Infoway had been trying to achieve for three years and which AMBiT accomplished on their behalf in seven months.

Physician Information Management Solutions

AMBiT provided business analysis and project management services to the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCH), and Providence Healthcare (PHC) to relocate the VCH and PHC's instances of Provider Information Management Solution (PIMS) applications into the PHSA data centre. PIMS represents a suite of administrative applications enabling $70M in paperless sessional compensation, credentialing and privileging, as well as on-call scheduling and viewing. The project was developed to enhance sustainability, security, and access to the applications without impacting existing business processes for Medical Affairs and Physician Compensation in each Health Authority.

Power Smart Marketing Initiatives

Power Smart plays an important role in achieving BC Hydro's long-term energy conservation targets. AMBiT was engaged to provide project management and business analysis for several department initiatives. AMBiT developed a business case for Power Smart Marketing to provide key stakeholders with a comprehensive explanation of decision making processes, funding allocations and performance measurement for Public Awareness, Education, and Community Engagement (PAECE) initiatives. AMBiT interviewed BC Hydro employees, conducted research on social marketing campaigns, and analyzed this information to develop a compelling argument for PAECE expenditures.

AMBiT also developed a strategic plan for the Power Smart Alliance, a group that encourages the adoption of energy efficient technologies by manufacturers, distributors and contractors. The plan included recommendations on how to target small and medium businesses, and provided a way for the Alliance to convey its goals to the rest BC Hydro. AMBiT also prepared a three-year operational plan for the Alliance that detailed key initiatives for the training of electrical contractors in energy efficient practices, particularly in the area of lighting.

SuperNet Videoconferencing Core Service

The purpose of the Alberta SuperNet Videoconferencing Core Service Project was to develop recommendations for a province-wide videoconferencing network that improves access to services, particularly for Albertans living in rural and remote areas. Sponsoring ministries for the initiative included Alberta Health and Wellness, Alberta Education, and Alberta Advanced Education. AMBiT developed a consultation plan for stakeholder sessions throughout the province of Alberta and facilitated 13 workshops to gather input on designing, implementing, and sustaining the proposed service. These workshops took place in 10 towns and cities across Alberta with participants representing 5 sectors and 123 separate organizations. Based on the results of the stakeholder consultations, AMBiT developed a business model for core service delivery including recommendations for management, financial, and governance.

RCMP E Division Relocation Integrated Workplace Solutions Pilot

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are in the process of building a new facility to house the RCMP's E Division Headquarters in Surrey, BC. The facility, referred to as Green Timbers, will allow for the relocation and consolidation of approximately 25 separate offices dispersed throughout the Metro Vancouver. This $966M project is the largest federal accommodation project in the Pacific Region to date and will house approximately 2,700 E Division personnel.

In order to plan for Green Timbers, the relocation team conducted a pilot of new furniture systems and layouts with four RCMP workgroups. AMBiT provided project and change management support for this initiative, including a project plan for the pilot to ensure alignment of effort within the project team. AMBiT led the implementation of a stakeholder engagement strategy, including development of all communications material. Lessons learned from the pilot were consolidated in a final report outlining furniture, design, change management, and transition recommendations for the greater relocation project.

RCMP E Division Relocation Knowledge Management

AMBiT provided strategic guidance to Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) in support of the RCMP E Division Relocation Project, a Public Private Partnership (P3). The goal of the RCMP E Division Relocation Project is to consolidate the headquarters of the RCMP's E Division within Metro Vancouver by building a new facility at Green Timbers in Surrey. This $966M project is the largest federal accommodation project in the Pacific Region to date. At completion, the new division headquarters will house 2,700 E Division personnel.

As part of PWGSC's knowledge management strategy, AMBiT authored a report on the principles and best practices that should guide PWGSC during the Request for Qualification stage of future P3 projects. The best practices in this report were based on two lessons learned workshops and a risk management brainstorming session that AMBiT facilitated with participation by PWGSC, the RCMP, and various project advisors. AMBiT further distilled these best practices into a set of key principles that are fundamental to the successful completion of any PWGSC P3 procurement effort.

In addition, AMBiT worked to help PWGSC build a highly effective owner's team by facilitating team-building events and providing change management advice. In this role, AMBiT helped the PWGSC sub-team to identify key behavioural norms by which the team would operate, and asked the team measure their performance against these norms over time. AMBiT also guided the PWGSC sub-team in understanding the complex interests of various stakeholder groups and identifying areas of competing interests between these groups.

In April 2010, the contract to design, build, finance, and maintain the new facility was successfully awarded to Green Timbers Accommodation Partners. The date for completion of construction is December 2012.

Data Centre Relocation

The Inter Tribal Health Authority (ITHA) represents 29 First Nations communities in British Columbia. ITHA provides a range of services to its member communities, many of which rely heavily on its data centre. With significant expansion of services to First Nations communities planned, AMBiT was engaged to help manage the data centre relocation from Nanaimo to a secure co-location facility in downtown Vancouver. AMBiT led the distributed project team to plan the move, secure and prepare the new facility, develop a technical architecture, procure hardware, coordinate the logistics of the physical move, establish appropriate connectivity, and manage communications. The new facility improves security, capacity and the quality of service delivered to member communities.

CoCASA Adaptation

Health Canada partnered with the Inter Tribal Health Authority (ITHA) to explore ways of improving immunization coverage rates in First Nations communities in Canada. AMBiT provided overall project management and communications services in support of this project to customize the United States' Centre for Disease Control Comprehensive Clinical Assessment Software Application (CoCASA) which enables tracking and evaluation of the impact of immunization in a geographical region. The project team customized the CoCASA application to meet Canadian standards in accordance with provincial immunization schedules. AMBiT managed the project to budget and schedule, delivering the customized application, renamed the Canadian Immunization Assessment Tool (CIAT), in time for a pilot with First Nation communities across Canada.

Integrated Library System

The UBC Library is the second largest research library in Canada and includes 21 branches and divisions. The library engaged AMBiT to design a strategy for the selection and implementation of a new Integrated Library System. Through innovative requirements definition, expert facilitation, and rigorous analysis, AMBiT completed the $3M project on budget and set the record for what was the fastest system selection and implementation of any academic research library system in North America.

In a four-month time frame, AMBiT managed requirements gathering, RFP development, vendor selection, and contract negotiations. Following the successful project acquisition phase, AMBiT led six internal groups and a cross-departmental team to manage the implementation of the new system in seven months. The implementation included technical and functional system testing and integration, user training for over 300 library staff, and the migration of over 10 million records.

Digital Library & Supplemental System Implementation

Following AMBiT's successful selection and implementation of their integrated library system, the UBC Library engaged AMBiT to manage a suite of strategic projects. Below are selected highlights from these projects.

AMBiT's team led cross-organizational working groups to complete the implementation of the library's first enterprise digital resource access and digital collection management system. As part of the implementation, we led the development of key management policies for the system, and assisted in developing the communications strategy for the project.

AMBiT provided project planning, guidance, and support in the relocation of several dozen staff, office equipment and over $1.5M in books and related materials to the new $60M, 250,000 square-foot Irving K. Barber Learning Center. AMBiT also managed the implementation of an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) in the new Learning Center, including software and hardware procurement, installation, implementation, documentation, and training.

Physician Information Management Solutions

AMBiT provided business analysis and project management services to the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCH), and Providence Healthcare (PHC) to relocate the VCH and PHC's instances of Provider Information Management Solution (PIMS) applications into the PHSA data centre. PIMS represents a suite of administrative applications enabling $70M in paperless sessional compensation, credentialing and privileging, as well as on-call scheduling and viewing. The project was developed to enhance sustainability, security, and access to the applications without impacting existing business processes for Medical Affairs and Physician Compensation in each Health Authority.

In 2010, AMBiT was engaged to facilitate collaboration among PHSA, VCH, and PCH in this early Lower Mainland Consolidation project, while enabling successful relocation through the development of a detailed technical, testing, and communications plan. AMBiT prepared a privacy impact assessment for the applications, the environment, and the access approach to ensure legislative compliance, and facilitated the development of transition to operations strategies to ensure a shared understanding and agreement on PIMS support following the relocation. Further, AMBiT provided recommendations to improve governance and enable effective sustainment of PIMS for PHSA, VCH, and PHC until provincial governance strategy is developed for application enhancement and support. PHSA, VCH, and PHC have realized improved operational efficiencies and enhanced security controls of the PIMS systems and have gained considerable momentum in alignment with the Lower Mainland Consolidation effort.

Learning Space Design Guidelines

AMBiT worked with the Resource Planning Group (RPG) to develop new Learning Space Design Guidelines for the University of British Columbia (UBC). AMBiT leveraged its expertise in classroom technologies and knowledge of current best practices to produce a recommendations report to guide UBC's use of Collaborative Media and AV technology in higher education. The report also included a gap analysis between UBC's Audio Visual Guidelines document and the best practices required to support rapidly evolving learning modalities used by higher educational institutions.

Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services Communications Strategy

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is undertaking the Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services (CvSSS) project, a $6.8M initiative to improve access to healthcare, promote continuity of health services in rural regions, and enhance medical training in western Québec through videoconferencing technology. The project aims to deploy 125 videoconference endpoints in clinical sites throughout the region in less than 1 year; however, this goal is challenged by deteriorating public perceptions of telehealth initiatives in Québec.

Recognizing that the success of the CvSSS project is contingent on its adoption by health care leaders, healthcare professionals and the general population, the CvSSS project team brought in AMBiT to develop a communications strategy and implementation plan. AMBiT conducted several information gathering sessions to identify key stakeholders and communications needs. It then refined the project team structure by examining existing deployment processes and assigning communications roles, and developed strategies to ensure successful technology deployments, high adoption rates, and continued political/economical support. AMBiT also conducted a gap analysis on the existing training plan and provided recommendations. The final communications plan was adopted by the CvSSS project team for submission to the Québec Ministry of Health and Social Services as a part of a request for continued project funding.

Five Year Business Plan

Circle Craft is a Vancouver-based crafts co-operative that has been in operation for over 25 years. AMBiT developed a five year strategic business plan for Circle Craft to guide organizational renewal. As part of a current state analysis, we carried out interviews with directors and staff, observed the co-operative's retail operation, and conducted market research. Additionally, AMBiT developed and completed a membership survey and facilitated a membership strategy workshop. Final business plan topics included communications, marketing, succession planning, membership retention and renewal, information technology infrastructure, and staff compensation.

Canadian Telehealth Scheduling

Canada Health Infoway (CHI) is an initiative of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, the aim of which is to foster and accelerate the development and adoption of electronic health information systems with compatible standards and communication technologies across Canada. As part of its Telehealth Investment Program, Infoway undertook a project to invest in a pan-Canadian telehealth scheduling solution.

AMBiT worked with telehealth stakeholders from all Canadian jurisdictions to identify functional and technical requirements for scheduling services and facilitate agreement among stakeholders with diverse perspectives. In parallel, AMBiT conducted an environmental scan of the broader telehealth scheduling industry to identify software options, and presented these to the Project Steering Committee for their consideration.

AMBiT then led the development of a Request for Information, including a framework that could be used by Infoway to seek out alternative solutions offering best value, devised an evaluation methodology, and formed an evaluation committee comprised of key stakeholders. AMBiT assisted in the evaluation of RFI submissions and solutions through vendor demonstrations and developed a final report with recommendations for the best strategic solution.

Infoway adopted AMBiT's recommendations and the result was an investment decision by Infoway in February 2007, something that Infoway had been trying to achieve for three years and which AMBiT accomplished on their behalf in seven months.

Project and Management Consulting

AMBiT was engaged by senior leadership at World Vision International to examine their approach to project, change, and communications management on major strategic initiatives. Rather than discuss abstract models, AMBiT requested to work with a program team to identify problems and potential solutions for World Vision's approach to change management projects.

AMBiT worked with the SERVE program team, a group charged with developing a global shared services department. AMBiT provided guidance to SERVE during the initial phases of program charter development, including facilitating a workshop for the program team and creating a chartering tool for World Vision's Project Management Office (PMO).

Based on the observations of the SERVE team and conversation with the PMO and World Vision leadership, AMBiT developed a report that recommended ways to improve project selection and management to increase project impact and improve the use of donor funds. AMBiT presented these findings to senior World Vision leadership, including the Senior Vice-President for Organizational Effectiveness.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick AV Technology Transition to Operations

While project managing the technology implementation of the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) program, AMBiT recognized the requirement for strong change management and communication to ensure a successful launch in September 2010. To achieve this, AMBiT led a 3-month project to transition the DMNB AV facilities to operations. This included development of a broad stakeholder communication plan, policies governing usage of the facilities, procedures for technical support and room booking, and training of faculty and staff. AMBiT was present on-site during a 'prototypical week', a dry run of the DMNB program in August 2010, and provided guidance and expertise to the technical support teams. DMNB launched in September 2010 with a cohesive and highly functioning operations team and full buy-in from faculty and students.

Building on the successful transition to operations for DMNB facilities, AMBiT was retained to transition seven clinical sites to operations as an integrated part of the distributed medical education program. AMBiT's work included the adaptation of current policies and business processes to varied hospital environments and creating training and communications plans for hospital staff.

Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services Communications Strategy

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is undertaking the Virtual Centre for Health and Social Services (CvSSS) project, a $6.8M initiative to improve access to healthcare, promote continuity of health services in rural regions, and enhance medical training in western Québec through videoconferencing technology. The project aims to deploy 125 videoconference endpoints in clinical sites throughout the region in less than 1 year; however, this goal is challenged by deteriorating public perceptions of telehealth initiatives in Québec.

Recognizing that the success of the CvSSS project is contingent on its adoption by health care leaders, healthcare professionals and the general population, the CvSSS project team brought in AMBiT to develop a communications strategy and implementation plan. AMBiT conducted several information gathering sessions to identify key stakeholders and communications needs. It then refined the project team structure by examining existing deployment processes and assigning communications roles, and developed strategies to ensure successful technology deployments, high adoption rates, and continued political/economical support. AMBiT also conducted a gap analysis on the existing training plan and provided recommendations. The final communications plan was adopted by the CvSSS project team for submission to the Québec Ministry of Health and Social Services as a part of a request for continued project funding.

Distributed Medical Education & Technology Enabled Learning Program

In 2004, the UBC Faculty of Medicine (FOM) launched an innovative distributed medical education program together with the Government of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and the regional health authorities. AMBiT was engaged to manage the implementation of distance learning technology for the program only four months before students arrived for their first semester at the UBC campus. AMBiT successfully managed the implementation on schedule and reduced the operational budget by $2.5M to help the FOM obtain final approvals. AMBiT also provided strategic guidance in the formation of the Technology Enabled Learning (TEL) group. This inter-site group provides operational support for the distributed medical program's education technologies and ensures that these technologies continue to meet the faculty's requirements.

In 2005, AMBiT assisted the FOM in securing $36M in critical funding for the operation of the distributed medical program from the BC Ministries of Advanced Education and Health Services, including capital renewal funding for videoconference facilities. With those funds in place, AMBiT led the TEL group in long-term planning to meet the FOM's needs; as part of this planning, we assisted TEL in forming crucial linkages with senior Faculty leadership to allow the technology group to act as a strategic partner with academic faculty, rather than simply a service provider.

AMBiT continues to provide strategic program management for many of TEL's flagship strategic programs including the Curriculum Management and Educational Delivery Program to implement educational technology systems, and the Synchronous Communication Platform Program to expand and renew videoconferencing facilities and services that support the distributed medical education program.

Medical Provincial Academic & Affiliated Campus Technology (MPAACT)

In 2005 the Ministry of Health Services launched the Medical Provincial Affiliated Academic Campus Technology (MPAACT) initiative, a $14.8 M technology program that facilitates distributed medical education in teaching hospitals across BC through advanced videoconferencing. In managing the MPAACT program, AMBiT has been a key player in laying the foundation for a provincial shared services approach to telehealth in British Columbia.

MD Undergraduate Admissions System Renewal

The Medical Doctor (MD) Undergraduate Program within UBC's Faculty of Medicine identified the need to renew their admissions system to offer an improved user experience for applicants and program administrators. AMBiT managed the project to replace the current admissions system throughout the project lifecycle, including developing a business case, gathering functional requirements, issuing and evaluating a Request for Proposals, and successfully leading system implementation. Statistics from the first year of use have shown substantial cost savings, with users reporting improved interaction with the system. In addition, the system enabled a new admissions process that has helped the UBC Faculty of Medicine ensure the highest quality medical students by tracking analytics for longitudinal studies that improve medical student selection.

Administrative Application Technology (ADAPT)

The Administrative Application Technology (ADAPT) program was a $2.6M strategic initiative to replace disparate information systems in the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine with a centralized database and web application. This database contains demographic, salary, appointment, curriculum vitae, teaching, and other information about all Faculty of Medicine appointees, including faculty, staff, student employees, and postgraduate residents. These datasets were previously distributed amongst numerous smaller databases within individual departments and programs, with no effective mechanism for sharing and distributing the information.

AMBiT was involved in the formal initiation of the project, including developing a project charter, gathering and validating high level functional requirements, and selecting a software vendor through a Request for Proposal procurement process. AMBiT then managed the procurement and implementation of the new system, including ensuring proper communications across the faculty and integrating formal change management into project activities. Implementation included technical and functional system testing, user training for over 150 administrative staff, and the migration of data for 15,000 personnel. The system was implemented in December 2009 with approximately 1400 current users accessing the system.

Educational Technology Strategy Development and Implementation

The University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine engaged AMBiT to develop and implement an Educational Technology Strategy in support of its curriculum renewal process. AMBiT led a colloquium for senior academic leadership, faculty, staff, and nationally recognized experts in medical education to discuss the current state of educational technology and gather requirements for future investment. These requirements formed the basis of a five-year strategic roadmap for the Faculty that aligns technology investments with curricular requirements. The five investment areas identified within this report included:

1. Synchronous communication technologies, such as videoconferencing and web conferencing.
2. Curriculum management tools to improve the mapping of learning objectives to curricular activities and expand access of this curriculum map to educators and learners.
3. Learning object management tools to support the modularization of educational resources for reuse in various instructional contexts.
4. Special application educational technology tools to improve learning outcomes, such as virtual patients, human patient simulators, and ePortfolios.
5. Educational gateways to consolidate access to online resources, including a web portal and learning management system.

As a first step in implementing the strategic recommendations, AMBiT led an environmental scan of over 30 medical education institutions across Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom to identify relevant technology solutions. With greater market understanding, AMBiT led a requirements gathering process by engaging representatives from seven stakeholder groups and synthesized the results into functional, technical, and organizational requirements.

AMBiT next defined decision criteria based on project goals, stakeholder requirements, and cost considerations. Using these criteria, we led a product evaluation, including detailed functional, technical, and organizational evaluations on four shortlisted solutions. Based on results of this evaluation, AMBiT led the development of a recommendations report which framed key tradeoffs between organizational risk and product functionality. AMBiT continues to provide program and project management for the selection of specific applications, and implementation and integration of those products.

Concept Paper for Treasury Board Submission

Camosun College engaged AMBiT to develop a compelling business case for a $50M building to house a new Centre for Excellence in Health and Wellness. AMBiT worked with the senior management team to articulate salient benefits from a range of stakeholder perspectives, craft a cohesive and convincing argument, and provide financial benefit models justifying the investment from organizational and provincial perspectives. With AMBiT's help Camosun developed a persuasive case to engage its funders and stakeholders in support of their capital development.

Conference Management System

The RCPSC engaged AMBiT to identify and implement a new conference management system that would support and improve RCPSC's event management operations. In the first phase of the project, AMBiT facilitated agreement on system requirements, prepared and issued a Request for Information for conference management systems, evaluated potential solutions, and made an investment recommendation.

After the RCPSC adopted AMBiT's recommendation, AMBiT was retained to continue providing project management and stakeholder communications services during the acquisition and implementation phases. AMBiT's scope of work included conducting vendor contract negotiations, developing an implementation strategy, and system testing. In order to ensure stakeholder readiness, AMBiT also identified business process gaps to be addressed during implementation, coordinated user training sessions, and developed training materials for system administrators and power users. The system was successfully implemented, enabling the RCPSC to increase overall efficiency of event management, registration, and administration.

Educational Technology Strategy Development and Implementation

The University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine engaged AMBiT to develop and implement an Educational Technology Strategy in support of its curriculum renewal process. AMBiT led a colloquium for senior academic leadership, faculty, staff, and nationally recognized experts in medical education to discuss the current state of educational technology and gather requirements for future investment. These requirements formed the basis of a five-year strategic roadmap for the Faculty that aligns technology investments with curricular requirements. The five investment areas identified within this report included:

1. Synchronous communication technologies, such as videoconferencing and web conferencing.
2. Curriculum management tools to improve the mapping of learning objectives to curricular activities and expand access of this curriculum map to educators and learners.
3. Learning object management tools to support the modularization of educational resources for reuse in various instructional contexts.
4. Special application educational technology tools to improve learning outcomes, such as virtual patients, human patient simulators, and ePortfolios.
5. Educational gateways to consolidate access to online resources, including a web portal and learning management system.

As a first step in implementing the strategic recommendations, AMBiT led an environmental scan of over 30 medical education institutions across Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom to identify relevant technology solutions. With greater market understanding, AMBiT led a requirements gathering process by engaging representatives from seven stakeholder groups and synthesized the results into functional, technical, and organizational requirements.

AMBiT next defined decision criteria based on project goals, stakeholder requirements, and cost considerations. Using these criteria, we led a product evaluation, including detailed functional, technical, and organizational evaluations on four shortlisted solutions. Based on results of this evaluation, AMBiT led the development of a recommendations report which framed key tradeoffs between organizational risk and product functionality. AMBiT continues to provide program and project management for the selection of specific applications, and implementation and integration of those products.