UM Enterprise System Committee Charter

The University of Mississippi (UM) Enterprise System Committee is a multidisciplinary team including representatives from functional offices across the institution involved in the use and administration of our current enterprise product. The committee’s objective is to review available solutions in the market, with support and assistance provided by a consultant, and inform the university of its findings.

UM is in consideration to either upgrade or replace our existing Student Information System/Enterprise Resource Planning/Human Capital Management/Financial Aid solutions. Our current services run primarily on SAP, which has been in place for twenty-three years. The selected path forward will align with the university strategic goals and objectives. This scope includes the core university services, including all schools and colleges, regional campuses and administrative units. The committee will be responsible for playing a significant role in guiding the formulation of an RFP to review the vendors in the market that would be able to deliver to this need, and assisting in the identification of the most suitable option for UM.

Meetings

Meetings will occur at least once a month and as frequently as needed. When the agenda is amendable to a virtual meeting, this will be communicated to the members.

Reporting

The committee’s final report will be presented to the Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance, and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.

Committee members shall support the process in one or more of the following categories:

• Identify all avenues for communication and develop a communication strategy to keep all constituents informed of the process and progress
• Capture and document current solution capabilities and functionality as well as limitations of the current solution
• Interview campus unit leaders and other campus constituents to understand future product features and expectations
• Articulate preferences and expectations of future solutions, considering the needs of students, faculty, and staff
• Outline the advantages and disadvantages of each solution being reviewed and understand the gaps in the solutions, including any additional licensing and software requirements not covered by these solutions
• Explicate the value of making the shift to a different solution
• Develop a list of all required system and application integrations
• Develop an approved Request for Proposal using all gathered information and publish the RFP through the UM Procurement office including:
  • Schedule vendor demonstrations
  • Gathering data from vendors (proposals, cost, demos, scenarios)
  • Objectively measure the outcomes from the proposals and demos
  • Analyze proposals and perform a gap analysis
  • Collect reference information and follow-up with references
  • Survey campus for feedback from the demonstrations
• Request pricing information from all vendors accounting for total cost which includes five-year cost, including implementation. This pricing should include:
  • Additional staffing needed for the implementation project
  • Additional on-going staffing to support the product
  • Cost for features and services that will no longer be part of the future product
• Business Impacts Analysis:
  • High level fit analysis
  • Module completeness
  • Basic business model for Higher Ed
  • Expected major business changes and/or challenges to adopt
• Cost Analysis:
  • Licensing model and impacts
  • Operating impacts
• Implementation high level requirements:
  • Effort, cost, timeline, staffing (internal and external)
  • Implementation methodology options and best practice
• Technical Analysis:
  • Cloud vs. On Premise
  • Technical Impacts
  • Integration
  • Data Warehousing/Reporting
  • Long Term Staffing impact
  • Capacity/Performance
  • Security
• Work with the campus to select the best solution for UM
• Negotiate best pricing and favorable agreement terms with the preferred vendor