ERP FOR MACALESTER: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

 

1. GOALS
1. Provide effective support for mission-critical educational program, e.g., back-end for course management, self-service registration, portal services, etc.
2. Achieve efficiency in administering the business processes of the college, e.g. on-line requisitioning, time-entry forms, etc.
3. Incorporate new technologies that offer value to our mission, e.g., Web-based services to alumni and prospective students

 

2. WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE
1. Users engage pervasively available systems with minimal intermediation
2. Each business process accomplished efficiently and in a mode appropriate to task, e.g., graphical interface, Web
3. Academic and administrative support services are integrated, e.g., “enter once and use everywhere,” hire a faculty member and all accounts appear with one entry

 

3. WHERE WE ARE
1. Current systems: Jenzabar, Advance, PowerFaids

                                                     i.     Lack of planned integration and efficient data-sharing

                                                      ii.     Lack of Web applications for self-service, connecting other entities, etc.

 

2. Jenzabar issues

                                                     i.     Company viability vs. competing vendors

                                                      ii.     Jenzabar plans for upgraded ERP system

                                                        iii.     Anticipated costs of continued partnership with Jenzabar

                                                        iv.     Jenzabar track record on execution and support

 

4. PLANNING
1. Planning path so far

                                                     i.     Twin Cities consortium, project launch in fall, 2002

                                                      ii.     RFI, Macalester needs survey, Spring, 2003

                                                        iii.     Presidents review, October, 2003, and system requirements process

                                                        iv.     Vendor demos and costs

                                                      v.     Evaluation by CFOs, CIOs and users

 

2. Criteria

                                                     i.     Functionality that supports efficiency

                                                      ii.     Successful fit to Macalester's technology strategy

                                                        iii.     Minimize risk and costs

 

5. RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Administrative systems strategy for Macalester

                                                     i.     Utilize new and familiar technologies to provide service and keep up with the competition with minimal expense

                                                      ii.     Converge departments on integrated system unless

a.     there is hard evidence of compromised mission-critical functionality AND

b.     the area is of especially high strategic importance to college AND

c.     data-sharing can be efficiently accomplished by other means.

                                                        iii.     Consolidate technologies to simplify and minimize maintenance, support and staffing expense (minimize database, OS, hardware, report-writer diversity)

 

2. Provide an integrated data strategy by

                                                     i.     Migrating to [[system X]] with a 5 year budget of [[$ZZZZ]] OR

                                                      ii.     Accept higher risk and some loss of functionality by

1.     accepting Jenzabar’s product plan, adding JICS, CRMs and selected data marts

2.     providing Web services by developing them in-house and integrating third-party products with Web programming capability

3.     support improved business processes with additional database programming and system integration capability