The University's senior management has been made increasingly aware of data management as a major strategic issue in the course of preparation for the RAE and through the strategic planning processes, as well as by Heads of Schools and Units.
The University's last major investment in its business systems for data management was in 1999 in the run up to the millennium changeover and systems were, at times, selected with primarily budgetary and not functional concerns at the forefront of the decision-making process.
Research grant income has increased over the past 5 years and the demands of the funding/research councils for detailed financial information have become ever more exacting.
The Quaestor has proposed, with the support of the Principal's Office, that a major project be undertaken to implement one integrated system for HR, Payroll, Finance, Procurement and Research Grant Management (RGM).
This project is being led by Business Improvements (BI), with a team drawn from Finance, Research Finance Office (RFO), Procurement, HR, Payroll and IT Services. The project will focus not solely on the technology and data structures within the Institution, but also aim to embed the skills of good data management in the relevant business units.
The project will provide a platform for business process improvement and efficiency gains. In addition to any new system, an integrated Business Intelligence solution will also be provided to ensure access to good quality reports and metrics.
A formal steering group has been established to oversee the project. This group reports to the Principal's Office. which in turn reports to PARC. Membership of this group comprises the Deputy Principal, Quaestor (chair), VPGov, VPExt, VPRes, Director of BI, Director of HR, Registry Operations Director, Director of IT Services, Director of Procurement, the Assistant Director of Finance, the Head of School of Computer Science and the Project Leader. A non-Executive member of Court who is also a member of PARC will also be invited to attend whenever (s)he judges appropriate. The purpose of the working group is to set the overall framework and deliverables of the project, to ensure that the budget is available, and to monitor progress against the project plan.
A project team, which will report to the steering group, has been established with representatives from BI, HR, Payroll, Finance, RFO, IT Services and Procurement. The purpose of the project team is to select and deliver an appropriate system to budget and within the agreed time scale, as well as implementing changes to business processes to improve organisational efficiency.
A realistic time scale for a project of this size and scope is 30 months. Assuming the project gets underway promptly in the 08/09 academic year, it is anticipated that go-live will be Oct 2011.