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The new PeopleSoft financial system replaces and integrates virtually all the University's financial systems on all campuses: CUFS, Financial Forms Nirvana, Electronic Grants Management System internal (EGMSi), JD Edwards, and a variety of subsidiary and redundant systems. Financial reporting and data currently provided by the Data Warehouse, UM Reports, and Financial Reports on the Web will also be replaced by PeopleSoft reporting. Budget preparation will be completed in the new system for fiscal year 2010.
A broadly representative team from across the University, led by the Controller's Office, began work several years ago to acquire a new financial system for the University. The team prepared and issued a Request for Proposal in 2002, evaluated responses, held scripted demonstrations, and selected the vendor to recommend to the Board of Regents. The University purchased a suite of financial management software containing 16 modules from PeopleSoft (now Oracle) in 2003.
The EFS project has been a collaborative effort between University-wide business experts, the Controller's Office, and the Office of Information Technology. It is an important component in fulfilling the University's strategic positioning objectives.
Phase 1, the planning phase for the new Enterprise Financial System, began in January 2004 and continued for 18 months. This phase focused on 18 key deliverables and was successfully completed June 30, 2005.
Phase 2, the implementation phase, got underway in August 2005. In October 2005, the EFS Executive Steering Committee approved the addition of PeopleSoft Grants, Projects, and Contracts modules in the EFS project, and extended the "go-live" date of the new system until July 2008.
The College and University Financial System (CUFS) was installed at the University in 1991 and survived for many years without support from the software vendor. While information and processing needs increased tremendously over the past decade, the capabilities of the financial system did not. Supplemental systems deployed to augment the functionality of CUFS created redundancies of financial and administrative data and processes. These supplemental systems required specialized support and were not long-term solutions.
The new financial system reduces manual efforts and reliance on redundant systems. Improvements in processes, quality, and quantity of information will also occur. The new system better supports staff at all levels of expertise in terms of ease of use, access, and navigation. It also provides the University more flexibility in gathering data for increasingly complex and demanding internal and external reporting requirements. An overarching goal is to ensure that each financial business process, and by extension the financial system as a whole, supports a strong internal control environment.
CUFS is the fifth and last of the core administrative information systems to be replaced. The University has successfully installed human resources, libraries, grants management, and student systems.