Higher Education Industry Practice Area
© 2003 IBM Corporation
The Road Less Chosen:
Evaluating Financial Systems and Alternative Paths to Success
May 22, 2007Mark Olson, [email protected]
Eric Letsinger, [email protected]
© 2006 IBM Corporation2 Public Sector
A Community Source Session and Powerpoint!
Special thanks to all who participated in the “Road Less Chosen” session at the St. Louis Kuali Days Conference. Your great contributions and engaged discussions are captured in the slides that follow. We especially thank Denise Kirkeby from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities for her generous Powerpoint capture.
We enjoyed the session and learned a lot and hope that you did too – you were all great and really helped make this a fun and provocative session!
Eric Letsinger and Mark Olson
© 2006 IBM Corporation3 Public Sector
Agenda
Current Systems
Emerging trends
The process…traditional and Kuali
Commercial vs. Kuali…pros and cons
Is Kuali right for you?
© 2006 IBM Corporation4 Public Sector
Outmoded Financial Systems of Today…
Aged
Costly to maintain
Not innovative
Very slow – batch oriented, slow response time
Bad performance
Complex code – difficult to maintain
Painful upgrades, and costly
Integration problems – with other central and distributed systems
Platform costs
Poorly trained consultants
Lack of higher education functionality
Counter intuitive
© 2006 IBM Corporation5 Public Sector
Are you positioned well for tomorrow… challenges ahead
Fair value and historical costs for investments and land
More audits
Vendors dropping support
Shorter time frames
Increasing internal controls and documentation
More GAAP vs. Fund Accounting (need ability to do both as well)
Software is becoming a commodity, changing support model
Lack of competition in software arena for Higher Education
Changing business practices, more frequently
Need for better management of data and management information systems
© 2006 IBM Corporation6 Public Sector
Two Approaches: Commercial Only or Consider Open Source
The Paved Road
Informal analysis of the current system
How are we doing business- what do we need
Formal agreement – we need do something (business plan)
Costs, budget needs
RFP-requirements
Infrastructure needs
Review of vendors-rfp
Identify new goals-future strategy
Select vendor
Re-engineer, training, etc
Write the checks
Resources/back filling staff
New technology integration
Research on interfacing –legacy systems, shadows
The Road Less Chosen
Not always an obviously decision
Lack of history, track record, uncertainty
Become part of the process-own time into the development
For some it is an obvious decision
No one to respond to the RFP
No firm implementation plan, little documentation
Kuali not quite finished yet
Lack of a student system or HR system
Role of the community-to fill the gaps
Sole source to foundation
Change in mind set-Kuali is not a vendor, more action on our part
Who is assuming the risk—the institution - how do we handle this issue (ownership)
© 2006 IBM Corporation7 Public Sector
Risk Analysis: Pros and Opportunities
Kuali Systems
“By and for” Higher education industry
Cost savings-licenses and implementation?
Open source is as secure as others
More focused communities
Ability to test drive more adequately and less expensively
Teams may be more committed because of ownership (personal commitment)
More options for fixing broken areas
Upgrades less expensive/fewer resources
Commercial Systems
Large install base
Active communities
Predictable implementation costs
Team may be more committed- because of the costs (pressure from the top)
© 2006 IBM Corporation8 Public Sector
Risk Analysis: Cons and Barriers
Kuali Systems
Risks
New and untested implementation
Infrastructure, software, business rules, change management --expectations of the future
Past behavior is not a good indicator of future needs
Commercial Systems
Expensive consultants-implementation
Illusion that we avoid some risk w/ a vendor
Infrastructure, software, business rules, change management --expectations of the future
Less responsive to broken paths
Upgrades more expensive/resources
© 2006 IBM Corporation9 Public Sector
Characteristics of Institutions Ripe for Kuali
Need to replace existing systems
Letter from current vendors, dropping support
Looking for something new-innovative
Need for new technical architecture
Limited resources
Loss of Knowledge of current staff, may be leaving/retirements
Dissatisfaction with current model/vendors and their process
Strong internal staff that wants to go down this path
Have done their research, compared products
Strong leadership and willing to take risks, try something new
Stakeholders in the functionality of the system
© 2006 IBM Corporation10 Public Sector
Rationalize the Process
Define the gap between your system and modern systems
Quantify/qualify this gap into a business case for change
Gain buy-in early for considering Kuali
Define system requirements
Conduct cost benefit analysis (Kuali vs. commercial offerings)
• Software, Implementation Services, Internal and Hardware
Conduct risks analysis
• Kuali vs. Commercial
Try Kuali via Kualifier and Test Drive
Select and implement
© 2006 IBM Corporation11 Public Sector
IBM Kuali Overview Today
BUSINESS
TECHNOLOGY
HELP ME DO IT MANAGE IT
FOR METELL ME
WHAT TO DO
Strategic
Outsourcing
Services
Application Management
e-business Hosting
Infrastructure Outsourcing
Data Center
Desktop
Network
Managed Storage
Learning Services
Integrated Technology Services Business Continuity & Recovery
Technical Support
e-business Infrastructure
Networking & Connectivity
Infrastructure & Systems Management
Global Business Services (GBS)
Strategy & Change
Customer Relationship Management
Supply Chain Management
Financial Management
Human Capital Management
Application Innovation
Business Transformation Outsourcing
© 2006 IBM Corporation12 Public Sector
IBM Kuali Overview Tomorrow
BUSINESS
TECHNOLOGY
HELP ME DO IT MANAGE IT
FOR METELL ME
WHAT TO DO
Strategic
Outsourcing
Services
Application Management
e-business Hosting
Infrastructure Outsourcing
Data Center
Desktop
Network
Managed Storage
Learning Services
Integrated Technology Services Business Continuity & Recovery
Technical Support
e-business Infrastructure
Networking & Connectivity
Infrastructure & Systems Management
Global Business Services (GBS)
Strategy & Change
Customer Relationship Management
Supply Chain Management
Financial Management
Human Capital Management
Application Innovation
Business Transformation Outsourcing
© 2006 IBM Corporation13 Public Sector
Limited IT Resources is the biggest barrier to adoption
Source: A-HEC, 2006