The Integrated Systems Project, a five-year overhaul of the University's administrative software, completed its first stage of planning and is heading into its build-and-test phase.
The Integrated Systems Project will implement a new computer system to benefit faculty by making day-to-day computer procedures easier. It eventually will change the services provided for the entire University.
The project will tackle three separate areas: finance, human resources and student information systems. The human resources and student information systems phases will not begin for several years.
July 2, 2001 is the "go-live" date for the finance phase of the project, the first phase the ISP team will complete.
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The finance system includes the general ledger, accounts payable and grants management.
"Finance is the first phase because it needed the most work, the quickest," said Communications Manager Carole Horwitz. The current computer system is old and almost obsolete.
"The computers are written in language so old that there are very few pepole who know how they work," Horwitz said. "If the computers were to break down it would be difficult to find someone to fix them because of their age. That is a critical issue right there."
Using Oracle software, the computer system will become integrated, allowing University employees --- from secretaries to high level administrators - to handle work more easily.
"We will only have to put information in once and it will be shared pretty pervasively," said William Randolph, Integrated Systems Project director.
The universality of the Oracle system is a great benefit to the University, Randolph said.
"It has one look and one feel. If you're in Oracle and doing one thing, you can go to a different program and understand it because they have the same steps," he said.
The ISP team will provide training on the software because of the number of people this project will affect. About 2,500 people are receiving training for the finance phase.
Unlike the current system, the integrated system can be changed as new technology emerges. The University can update the computers when Oracle produces new, faster and better programs.
The license bought from Oracle also enables the University to expand its programs. Included in an annual maintenance fee is technical support and the privilege of upgrading software. "They are our guides," Randolph said.
The University hired KPMG Consulting to help with the implementation of the new system.
According to Randolph, the software is elaborate and difficult to understand. KPMG understands the Oracle software and helps with its overall establishment in the University's computer systems.
Oracle systems are currently used at Yale, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, George Washington University, and the University of West Virginia.
Among these schools, KPMG consulted Yale, Harvard and George Washington.
The Integrated Systems Project is both privately and publicly funded.
Recently the state granted $1.75 million per year for two years toward the project. A request for an increase of $4 million from the state is currently pending approval.
According to Director of the Budget Melody Bianchetto, the rest of the funding is from long term savings, private money and other sources.
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