ZIMS Re-launches Today

After months of developing a detailed new ZIMS process, quantifying it all into a plan reviewed and approved by the ISIS board and searching for the right vendor, today the ZIMS project formally re-launches. It feels great.

Over the last few months ISIS has “staffed up” internally. At left are the faces of the ZIMS internal project team. These are professionals with expertise in database architecture, cutting edge software development, user interface design and zoo/aquarium business practices. Some of them are formally ISIS employees, some are consultants. All of them share the optimistic vision for what ZIMS will be and a dedication to making ZIMS an amazing tool for the ISIS global community.

ZIMS will be built in seven intense bursts of activities called Sprints. Click here for details on sprints. Sprint 1 begins today with a conference call/Webex meeting between the Minnesota staff (pictured below) and the staff at A-1 in Gurgaon, India.

During Sprint 1 we will focus on Institution Administration including contact methods, staff and membership data and user administration including roles and access rights. Basically we are developing the least exciting parts of ZIMS first. Why? Because it is here that we will build many template pieces that will be inserted throughout all of the screens in ZIMS.

Later this week, several internal project team members will travel to India:

Hassan Syed/ ISIS Assistant Director /22 days
Craig Yellick /Senior Architect Analyst /14 days
Wenlei Fang /Development Team Lead /30 days
Isaac Koss /Developer 29 days
Nury Sword /Developer /13 days
Mike Kelly /Developer /19 days