Edu-leaders

The University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES) is a university established in 2003. UPES has emerged as a world class institution, dedicated to developing super-specialized, professional managers and engineers across core sectors of

the economy including Oil & Gas, Power, Transportation and Energy verticals. The courses offered by the University in the Energy sector are accredited by the Energy Institute, UK. This makes it the only University in the Pan-Asian region whose courses have this accreditation.

The Problem/ Need

The University, faced a high employee attrition rate. Thus, new inductions and separations had to be done frequently. Also, in a period of 5 years, a number of office locations were changed resulting in the physical movement of records. The computerization of records that were maintained permanently therefore was a paramount consideration for the HR function. At the same time, the ability to include core HR processes like Appraisal and induction within the system was a core requirement as well. Integration of employee records with academic processes in order to do workload monitoring was another requirement as was their integration with financial records to keep up-to-date impurest books in order.
In addition to these points, the ability to rapidly generate consolidated information and reports from multiple locations, reduce the turnaround time for typical transactions, and provide the management with a birds-eye view of the organization were the other considerations that led to the adoption of an Enterprise system. It was also mandatory for the University to maintain permanent records of all its students for all time. A robust system was required that could support this requirement.

The Solution

The University, after experimenting with custom developed point solutions and commercially available software for areas like Finance and Accounts, took a principle decision to go in for a best of breed Enterprise product and evaluate available options, based on considerations like technology platform, functional coverage, scope and future proofing, and decided to adopt one of the world class ERP systems domain tailored for the Education industry. After evaluation of available systems in this space, the SAP solution for HE&R was selected.
The SAP implementation was a joint best effort between the University and the implementation partner. As this was the first implementation of this solution in the country, the partner provided consulting for the core modules and the University team for the education domain processes implemented in Campus Management. The project went live on Jan 03, 2007. The implementation initiated in November 2006 with L&T Infotech as implementation partner spanned a little over 75 days. The implementation model used was the Big-Bang approach where in all functional areas across all campuses were involved. The implementation went on to become a Global Success Story by SAP AG and the implementation methodology was accepted as an Accelerated Delivery model globally.
One of the immediate benefits of the implementation was that employees using the system actually bonded with the end-to-end process. For example, an Enrollments officer realized the importance of creating a student record on time and the consequent impact on Finance, Academics and Student Records and Evaluation Department and the other departments of the University of his/her actions. This led to fewer errors and a more serious outlook towards routine tasks.
Accountability also increased as the entire system became more transparent. This was coupled with the expected benefits of consolidating all data on a single location and a single system – in terms of reporting accuracy and speed. Management of user authorizations and security eased (contrasted with access rights assignment in multiple systems earlier) as well as streamlined backup and recovery capabilities.

Conclusion

UPES adopted the above initiative keeping in mind a scalable industry focused on academic rigour. This acts as the building block for enhancing reputation, resulting in increased market share, attraction of top quality human capital and growth.
The initiative deployed follows a pattern similar to other industries like BFSI, aviation, transportation and power. As this technology is built into the service infrastructure, it opens opportunities for forward-looking organizations to gain strong competitive advantages. However, as their availability increases and cost decreases, they become commoditized. Therefore, it is a fairly simple matter to procure and adopt them. Care must be exercised in judicious and correct implementation – preferably based on global best practices – to ensure the success of the initiative.