IBIS Task Force

History and Recommendations

September 10, 2005

Establishment of Task Force

On February 1, 2005, a task force was established to develop specific requirements for an integrated business information system (IBIS) for the United Arab Emirates University.

IBIS Task Force Membership

Project Manager/Chair (Ken Thompson) Secretary General (Mugheer Al Khaili) Chief Information Officer (Michael Dobe) Assistant Secretary General for Financial Affairs (Mohamed Khalifa Al Qamzi) Director, Finance (Hashim Al Hashimi) Director, Purchasing (Ahmed Al Shamsi) Director, Budget (Hussain Bin Taleb) Director, Human Resources (Don Lacey) Director, Administration, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (Tom Reay) Director, Faculty and Staff Services, UGRU (Bob Broad) Director, Enterprise Applications and Integration, UITS (John Collins) IT Coordinator, Office of the Secretary General, UITS (Sulafa Abdelrahaman) Special Projects Coordinator for Academic Affairs (Yasser Sakr) Office of the Advisors to the Chancellor (David Gross)

Request for Quotation

The IBIS Task Force approved a request for quotation, which went to the market in March 2005.

Quickly narrowed the competition to: Emirates Computers (Oracle software) SunGard SCT (Banner software)

Product Demos & Reference Checks

Over the next four months, these vendors were interviewed and provided demonstrations of their products.

Users of these products were checked as references:

Higher Colleges of Technology Zayed University American University of Sharjah Several US universities

Meetings With Vendors

Several meetings held with each vendor.

Sought clarification on:

Their approach to the project Their products Any questions resulting from the earlier demonstrations

Task Force Vote for SCT

Task force met on numerous occasions to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the vendor offerings.

On August 16, 2005, the task force met and voted for their vendor preference.

The vote was unanimous for SunGard SCT.

Major Factors in the Decision

Different Approaches: SCT vs. Emirates (Oracle) SunGard SCT has embedded in their software a

combination of common and best practices from more than 1,000 colleges and universities throughout the world.

Emirates Computers (Oracle) offers a less structured product, but requires much more sophistication from university user employees to define their processes to Emirates Computers for customized development.

UAEU’s Current Practices

The UAE University does not have the depth in the areas of business, finance and student information to provide information to Emirates Computers much beyond our current practices.

Many of these current practices represent neither common nor best practices.

Upgrading Process and Services

The higher education experience that SunGard SCT brings to the table is absolutely necessary if we are to rapidly upgrade the quality of work processes and services.

SCT’s Higher Ed Expertise

SunGard SCT staff is much more familiar with the business of higher education.

SunGard SCT did a better job of understanding the University’s problems and responding to user questions.

Pricing: SCT vs. Emirates (Oracle)

SunGard SCT proposed specific prices, which have been negotiated down from their original offer.

Emirates Computers was less precise because they would not know until they started the project how much custom coding was required.

Emirates Computers pricing would be very similar to

SunGard SCT’s when the project was completed.

Business Practice Improvement

This project will result in much needed changes in virtually all of the University’s business practices.

By limiting the choices available to staff, we can expect some high levels of stress and employee turnover.

The UAE University needs both.

IBIS Costs

The total cost of the project is approximately AED 21,000,000 over the next three years.

This cost includes: Manpower Replacement hardware SCT and Oracle database licensing and maintenance fees Upgrading of the UAE University data center

SCT Product Mix

SCT Banner HRSCT Banner FinanceSCT Luminis PremierLDi for e-LearningSCT ODSSCT EDWeVisions

Timelines

The target for full production use of the new system is January 1, 2007.

Some benefits from parts of the system will accrue to the University in 2006.

Proposed Direct Purchase

We respectfully request the Chancellor’s approval of the purchase of the SunGard SCT offering as a direct purchase.

The University has completed due diligence in comparing vendors and products in the marketplace.

The Purchasing department has reviewed and recommended this process.

Letter of Credit & Financing

The Chancellor’s approval is also requested to seek, if necessary, a letter of credit from the University’s bank to secure no-interest financing from SunGard SCT over the next eighteen months.

Source of Internal Funds

Internal funds for this project will be more than covered by the savings in salaries and benefits resulting from the reduction in enrollment next fall with the increase of CEPA TO 150.