KEY ELEMENTS OF THE REDESIGN:
1) To provide integration of processes and systems that provide real-time financial information across the Institute.
2) To provide a reduction of administrative activities connected with the procurement process.
3) To streamline the Institute's planning and budgeting processes.
4) To adopt a set of non-financial performance measures for MIT.
GOALS:
Improve decision making by providing:
- Consistent data and administrative processes throughout the Institute
- Direct access to appropriate information
- Relevant analysis tools
Reduce the total effort required to maintain and deliver information by two-thirds within two years.
STRUCTURE:
Approximately 65 people are involved with this project. We are located in Building 16 on the 7th floor. Project Management is provided by Glenn Strehle, Vice President for Financial Operations and Treasurer. He is assisted by Larry Connelly of the Comptroller's Office. There are 11 teams involved, with primary emphasis on understanding the business processes for Management Reporting, external and internal. The SAP Financial package has been chosen to support the financial planning and reporting processes designed by the Management Reporting Team.
SCOPE OF LAB TEAMS:
1) Management Reporting Lab Team--Katherine Cochrane (MR-MI-LAB @MIT.EDU)
There are four components to the scope: Research management, distribution of salary expenses (including projections), planning and budgeting, and overall management reporting within departments, labs and centers.
2) Financial Reporting Lab Team--Elizabeth Cooper (MR-FM-LAB@MIT.EDU)
This lab has two main areas of focus: 1) how MIT financial information will be structured within the SAP framework (account numbers, etc.); and 2) the financial processes and compliance reporting needs.
3) Buy/Pay Lab Team-Steve Kellogg (MR-BP-LAB@MIT.EDU)
The Buy/Pay team is looking at how to integrate the procurement process and systems to provide real-time access to purchasing and property information, and to reduce administrative effort needed to purchase items.
These lab teams are supported by the:
��������������������������� Configuration Team-Wayne Turner (MR-config@MIT.EDU) This team is working to configure SAP software to meet MIT's needs.
��������������������������� Information Technology Teams-Roger Roach (MR-Tech@MIT.EDU) The various I/T teams are looking at connectivity issues as they relate to existing central and departmental systems.
��������������������������� Management Systems and Organizational Structures-Cindy Vallino (Cindyf@MIT.EDU) The work of this group is to consider how the new financial system affects jobs, roles and people.
���������������������������������������������Training Coordinator-Kip Warren-The training team is beginning to plan for the training needs of those who will be using the new system.
���������������������������������������������Communications Coordinator-Katherine Cochrane (Cochrane@MIT.Edu) The job of the coordinator is to get the word out across MIT about the Financial project and to coordinate the feedback and suggestions from the community.
Communications: We recognize the need for extensive communications within the community. Our plans include participation in the brown-bag lunches, discussions with individual stakeholders, open houses, a lab fair, and a continuous source of feedback from a group of administrators from around the community.
Current Status: The lab teams are about half-way throughway through the first "iteration." During this phase the lab teams provide feedback to the configurers which help to shape the implementation of SAP. There are two more iterations to go before August 1995.
Methodology: We are using the suggested methodology provided by CSC Consulting for large, I/T oriented projects. For more information on methodology, see the MIT WWW page for Management Reporting to be posted within the next month.
Timeline: "Labs" are being conducted during March-August, 1995. We anticipate that the pilots will start in September 1995-November 1995. Institute-wide implementation will begin in December 1995 with the phase taking place June, 1995. The new system is anticipated to be completely in place by July, 1996.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 1, 1995.
