A:  The Term “ERP” (Enterprise Resource Planning) originated in the manufacturing industry in the early 1990s and refers to all information systems and functions across an entire organization.  Historically, information systems evolved and were adopted at different rates by different parts of large organizations.  As a result, institutions like Ohio University end up relying on many disparate systems that duplicate both data and business processes. An ERP replaces those many systems across the entire organization with a single platform that eliminates redundancy in data, systems platforms, and functional processes. 

A:  Our current SIS is comprised of software provided by several vendors.  The “core” functional software is provided by a company called Informs.   Sigma Systems supplies our financial aid system, CollegeBoard provides the student recruiting package, and Miami DARS supplies the degree audit software.  There also are several other independent software systems that round out the current SIS.

Q:  How much will the project cost?

A:  A detailed cost estimate will be provided at the conclusion of the pre-implementation phase.

A:  Estimates range from 24 – 36 months.

Q:  What happens if we don’t get a new SIS

A:  OHIO needs to invest in a replacement SIS.  It may be possible to defer this project for a very short period of time, but the operating costs and risks associated with running a critical information system without vendor support on aging computer infrastructure will continue to escalate. 

Q:  What is the purpose of pre-implementation planning?

A:  With a project of this magnitude, careful planning is necessary to make sure the project meets the university's needs and receives adequate funding. The pre-implementation process will culminate with the presentation of a funding proposal and detailed project plan in June 2008.

Q:  What is involved with this planning process?

A:  The pre-implementation process includes the following steps:

• Fit/Gap analysis
• map OHIO's business processes to the generic version of Oracle PeopleSoft
• identify gaps which require modification of the generic version
• estimate the cost of these modifications
• Project Charter creation:
  
• Goals and objectives
• Guiding principles
• Project scope - a high level view of which tasks, needs and functions will be included in our implementation and which will not be included
• Project management guidelines
• risk management
• ensure that the project remains on schedule/on budget and does not take on additional responsibilities or features that were not a part of the original scope
• Detailed project timeline
• Readiness assessment to identify:
  
• university's level of commitment
• available funding
• resources and infrastructure needed to support the new system