Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Take Hold in Higher Education

Strategic Insights -

The increasing competition in higher education has led colleges and universities to explore new technologies to improve their financial, human resource, and student administration functions. One such technology is enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which are traditionally used in managing the movement of goods around factories and warehouses. The University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, are two institutions that have implemented ERP systems to streamline their operations and better serve their students.

Key Takeaways:

  • The University of Alberta's PeopleSoft ERP system was implemented to address the year 2000 computer problem, but also to restructure business processes and information systems that are appropriate to and will advance the agenda of an ambitious and increasingly entrepreneurial university.
  • The ERP system eliminated massive duplication of information and made better use of it, allowing for easier information sharing between departments and improved decision-making.
  • The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) employs an ERP-style enterprise application integration solution from Constellar Corporation to manage the movement of data between widely disparate applications.
  • The QUT system, known as Constellar Hub, aims to create a formal, consistent enterprise-wide integration and information management architecture to improve information handling and take advantage of service delivery via the internet.
  • The ERP systems implemented by both universities have enabled them to better address the delivery of information required in a more timely and consistent manner, benefiting faculties and students.
  • The University of Alberta's PeopleSoft ERP system lets students access information in a convenient and easy-to-use manner, while also supporting faculty where they teach and conduct research.
  • The Queensland University of Technology's Constellar Hub system enables the university to develop interfaces, maintain documentation, and facilitate the regeneration of interfaces resulting from legacy system replacement.
  • The two universities have implemented ERP systems to improve their business processes and information systems, addressing the challenges of increasing competition in higher education.

Statistics:

  • The annual operating grant for the University of Alberta was reduced by almost 20 percent in the mid-1990s.
  • The university's total income was over C$600m for the 1998-1999 academic year.
  • The University of Alberta aggressively pushed its licensing and royalty revenues from patent applications and spin-off companies, with only Stanford University in California outpacing it in this regard.
  • The QUT system has over 120 interfaces underpinning core university business.
  • The QUT system aims to take advantage of service delivery via the internet.
  • The University of Alberta's PeopleSoft ERP system was implemented in 1999.
  • The Queensland University of Technology started looking for "best-of-breed" core systems in 1994.

Sources:

  • "The Financial Times", article published in 1999.
  • Interview with Glenn Harris, Vice-President of Finance and Administration, University of Alberta.
  • Interview with Ian McDonald, Administrative Systems Co-ordinator, Queensland University of Technology.
  • Constellar Corporation press release.
  • Oracle Corporation press release.
  • Queensland University of Technology press release.