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Is "7 or 8 out of 10" Good Enough? – Campuses Consider Commercial ERP Versus KFS

Module by: Christina Richison. E-mail the author

Summary: A recent presentation at Kuali Days VII in Newport Beach, CA; Fall 2008. NITLE (National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education) has been facilitating conversations among small, independent colleges and universities about ERP systems and the Kuali open-source software, KFS. At this session, we will report on these conversations which describe the opportunities and challenges faced by smaller colleges in adopting such open-source ERP. This report includes summaries of two recent meetings hosted by NITLE which concluded that the current state of ERP on smaller campuses is ripe for improvement, as the current services implementations are resulting in forced upgrades, tightly-coupled systems, high costs, and are not supporting directions (such as business analytics) important to campuses.

Is “7 or 8 out of 10” good enough? Campuses Consider Commercial ERP Versus KFS

What about your financial ERP?

  • What ERP are you using?
  • What would you rate it?
  • Why?

Is "7 or 8 out of 10" good enough?

  • –– The current ERP system is working.
  • –– It is here.
  • –– It is stable and familiar.
  • –– The cost is known.
  • –– Regulatory updates are provided.
  • –– Users are happy.
  • –– Local applications that were written on top of ERP work.
  • –– Needs are met.
  • –– Nothing is forcing change.

What challenges do you encounter with your current ERP?

  • –– Not in control of destiny
  • –– High annual costs
  • –– Forced upgrades
  • –– Maintaining customization
  • –– Tightly coupled systems
  • –– Outdated software platform and interface
  • –– Clunky and slow
  • –– Poor reporting
  • –– Historical analyses difficult

Current "Economic Storm"

  • “U.S. calls global meeting on crisis” USA Today
  • “AIG could get $37.8B more from the Fed” USA Today
  • "US government may take part ownership in banks" AP
  • “US debt clock runs out of digits” BBC
  • "U.S. Stocks Stage Early Rally" Wall Street Journal
  • “Morgan Stanley shares plunge as short-sale ban ends” Reuters

Current "Economic Storm"

One definition of crisis is turning point.

Kuali Financial System

An open source solution.

What is NITLE?

  • –– A not-for-profit
  • –– Community-based
  • –– Aggregates need
  • –– A solution provider
  • –– National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education
  • –– Pronounced “nightly”

How can NITLE help?

  • –– Professional development opportunities
  • –– Managed technology and information services
  • –– Peer communities of practice
  • –– Robust network
  • –– Active, cutting edge research

NITLE, continued

  • –– Staff based in 9 states across the country, offices in Texas and Michigan
  • –– 17 technology fellows from participating institutions who offer expertise in specific technologies
  • –– 135 institutions currently served, worldwide

Christina Richison

National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education

NITLE Information Services

christina.richison@nitle.org

734.661.1012

Georgetown, Texas

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