rSmart Sakai CLE Adoption Package

Project Kickoff Call with a Project Manager

As soon as you are ready to start your Adoption Package project, you will attend a Kickoff call with your assigned Project Manager. The project manager will discuss your timeline for your implementation, describe the branding, LDAP and SIS integration process, and organize an on-site visit with an rSmart Consultant.

Adherence to project timeline as discussed during kickoff call

You will receive weekly (or more often, if warranted) updates about your project and the status of all tasks defined within the scope of work. The rSmart Project Manager will advise you immediately if any issues arise that may impede progress or may conflict with the established timeline.

Review of your Technical Information and Requirements

You will be expected to provide some technical information and basic requirements that we need in order to install your instance of the CLE and to integrate with LDAP, Active Directory or your Student Information System. An rSmart technical consultant will review your technical information prior to the installation and integrations and resolve any discrepancies with you prior to starting work.

Hosted Installation & Technical Configuration

The rSmart Technical Consultant will install, configure and test the CLE in a hosted environment. Contact us if you require an on-premise installation.

Basic Branding and One Skin

A developer will be assigned to your project and will work with you to design the appropriate branding and skin for your hosted instance. Once you approve the design, the branding will be implemented on your instance. Included in the branding: One skin, school logo, school colors, custom text and tools on gateway page.

Basic LDAP or Active Directory Integration

Our technical consultant will work with your institution's technical team to gather LDAP or Active Directory information so that users can authenticate against your internal system when logging in. This benefits users because they don't have to remember yet another password.

Basic Student Information System Integration

Basic Student Information System (SIS) integration automates the creation of courses and student enrollments based on information extracted from your SIS. The basic rSmart SIS code is SIS-agnostic and works with most student information systems.

Onsite Functional Training for Helpdesk, Admins and Instructors (onsite, day 1)

This session focuses on rSmart Sakai CLE functionality from a standard user (non admin) perspective, and is designed to develop participants into a ‘train-the-trainer’ role. The rSmart consultant will provide a navigational overview and instruction on using the CLE tools to manage course and project worksites. This workshop is ‘hands-on,’ and includes practical exercises, participant collaboration and time for discussion.

If desired, Faculty members may create their own worksites within your instance of the CLE during this workshop.

Onsite Configuration Requirements Gathering and Implementation of Requirements on Hosted Instance (onsite, days 2 & 3)

Based on our experience, we've discovered that the most successful implementations occur when faculty representatives are involved in the implementation before Sakai "goes live" at an institution.

Faculty members, helpdesk users and decision-makers are presented with functional decisions regarding where to put tools, how to order or categorize the tools per site type, what to call the tools, whether to hide tools, how this affects the gateway, courses, projects, portfolios and MyWoskspace sites, and then we define roles, user accounts, permissions, properties and templates.

Questions such as these are discussed: Do you have TA's? How do you plan to use groups in your courses? What can a guest reasonably expect to do within a course site? Do you have other special needs?

To meet your requirements, we make every effort to configure rather than write custom code, because it ensures upgradeability.

Once the decisions are made, rSmart applies your configuration requirements to your instance as part of our installation services.

Onsite Sakai CLE Manager/Administrator Training for Helpdesk, CLE Functional Managers and Systems Administrators (onsite, day 4)

This session will take attendees through administering rSmart Sakai CLE from a CLE Manager or System Administrator's perspective. Topics covered include user templates, worksite templates, system permissions and other administration tools.

This hands-on session should provide attendees with the ability to fully manage the front-end of the rSmart Sakai CLE, including changing settings, managing permissions and troubleshooting.

Software hosting for six months

rSmart hosting services will provide a stable, secure, and scalable environment that will accommodate the growth of your institution and its programs. rSmart's team of experts will maintain the CLE by providing regular service packs, security updates, patches, and upgrades so your resources can focus on education rather than on IT infrastructure and maintenance.

Some benefits to hosting your pilot include:

• Cuts costs by eliminating system administrator time, training and hardware
• Allows rSmart experts to upgrade to the most current version of the CLE at no additional cost to you
• Ensures a high level of performance with guaranteed uptime as specified in your service level agreement (SLA)
• Keeps your software up-to-date with patches, regular service packs, and security updates
• Secures your environment with network monitoring and daily backups for faster disaster recovery
• Scales your environment to accommodate growth on your campus
• Provides flexibility with a customizable firewall and security settings

Note: At the end of term of your Adoption Package, rSmart can provide an additional services to move your instance to a on-premise-based environment if so desired.

Tier 2 & 3 Support for six months for up to 500 users

We support the following:

• Performance of your hosted instance
• Installation
• Functional usage (Tier 2 & 3 levels)
• Configuration
• Troubleshooting
• IP Assurance
• Bug Fixes
• Authentication System (LDAP or AD) system integration
• Student Information System Integration

We do not support the following*:

• Tier 1 (end-user support) - we have partners that can provide Tier 1 support if you do not have an institutional helpdesk for this.
• Custom Code Development
• Reconfiguration of your instance
• Community Developed tools not included as part of our release

*Add on services are available for the above exceptions

Click here for full details on what is included in our support.

Access to rSmart Support Network including all documentation and knowledgebase articles.

Your support subscription is managed through the rSmart Support Network (RSN) portal. Any user at your institution may request an account in the RSN portal and access helpful knowledgebase articles and other documentation.

Only designated users at your institution will have permissions in the portal to submit Tier 2 and 3 support tickets to rSmart.

Users of the rSmart Support Network may reproduce, repurpose, and create derivate works from our documentation at their discretion. They may also share documents and derivative works with other organizations within The rSmart Support Network.