Improving our digital services: Teaching Management System (TMS)

The product team behind the Teaching Management System (TMS) (link behind SSO) has been piloting the University’s new digital delivery model since February 2024, to help deliver faster, more user-focused enhancements to our digital services. 

TMS is widely used by academic and administrative staff, and undergraduate students across the University, to manage teaching-related activity. This includes logging teaching hours and payment calculations, publishing details of upcoming classes for student self-sign-up, tracking teaching activity across multiple teaching types (e.g. classes, revision sessions and practicals), sharing or accessing student tuition reports, and reporting. 

Getting started: a new way of working 

The new delivery model pilot in TMS was initiated by the Digital Transformation Programme, as part of a wider pilot involving dedicated teams being brought together to work collaboratively on a specific product and develop it over time. The aim was to adopt more agile principles, where the delivery team would continually seek opportunities to enhance the product and introduce regular improvements, so that users would benefit from ongoing updates and refinements in response to their needs. 

This approach was piloted across four digital IT systems/products in the University’s digital Education Portfolio: TMS, the Admissions Decisions Support System (ADSS), Canvas (the University’s virtual learning environment or ‘VLE’ for teaching and learning), and the Strategic Information Technology Services system (SITS).  

The TMS team were the first to begin, starting with research to better understand some of the challenges users were facing in using the system. Feedback from users highlighted significant difficulties in navigating the system, with many reporting that it did not feel intuitive. Additionally, at certain key points in the academic term, users were experiencing notable drops in system performance. 

Working in partnership with Slalom Consulting initially, the team quickly established a backlog (a to-do list) and introduced regular ‘sprint reviews’ with members of the TMS user group, to identify priorities and discuss progress. Over the next two years, with support from Software Solutions colleagues in IT Services, the team delivered a steady flow of fixes and enhancements. 

From reactive fixes to regular improvements 

At the outset, the scale of requests for fixes was considerable. Prior to the new delivery model pilot, development on TMS had been largely reactive, with no significant enhancements since its launch in 2021. 

By creating a structured and prioritised backlog of tasks, and sharing this transparently with users, the team could focus on delivering the most valuable improvements. Everyone could see what was being worked on, when and why, and this helped the team to ensure that their effort was aligned with user priorities. 

Establishing a regular rhythm of fortnightly releases of new features and fixes (in line with the principle of incremental improvements) proved challenging at first. It required new technical processes and ways of working, which took time. Once established, the team were able to introduce updates more quickly and reliably. For users, this means the system is continuously improving, rather than only changing periodically in response to major issues. 

Working more closely with users 

Jamie Taylor, Product Owner for TMS, said:

The principle that users are at the heart of our work, and we should therefore be prioritising tasks that deliver the most value to them, is fundamental to the new delivery model.  

By visiting departments and colleges, we’ve created opportunities for TMS users to share their experiences and raise concerns directly with the team responsible for the system. This gives our team valuable insight into areas where the product could be improved and helps us to prioritise. In many cases, observing colleagues interacting with the system highlighted opportunities for improvement that would not have been identified otherwise. 

Lessons to share 

Jamie added:

One of the key lessons from the pilot is the importance of starting small. Faced with a large backlog and many competing priorities, the focus on incremental improvements allowed us to make steady progress while retaining flexibility to adapt. 

The value of user-centred design has been clear. Engaging users throughout the process – and testing assumptions – helps to support better outcomes. 

User research has proved to be a vital, though resource-intensive, activity. While the insights gained have been significant, finding the time to undertake this work consistently remains a challenge. The TMS team would strongly encourage other teams implementing the new delivery model to invest in this early. 

Beyond the pilot: the creation of MEADS 

Building on the success of the TMS pilot, the Education Portfolio secured funding in early 2025 to merge the TMS and ADSS teams into a single, unified group: the Microsoft Education Applications Delivery Squad (MEADS). 

This has led to more consistent ways of working across related systems, allowed the sharing of expertise, and created greater flexibility in how resources are allocated, supporting more efficient delivery and stronger cross-team capability across both. 

Since forming, the MEADS team has started applying the new delivery model to a broader range of systems, including Examiner Appointments and Payments, and US Loans. Ongoing investment through to 2029 means the team now has the stability to move beyond quick wins. It is committed to delivering meaningful, user-led improvements across the Education Portfolio, at scale, to support the University’s ongoing digital transformation.