Steering Committee Meeting
Notes - September 27, 2005
- Response to September 22 Town Hall Meeting
Phyllis Nash opened the meeting with an acknowledgement of the shortcomings of the September 22 Town Hall meeting. With Lee Nelson and the functional leads unable to attend, David Hardison, Kathy Hamperian, and Kathy Crouch found themselves struggling to answer some of the more specific questions posed at the end of the meeting. While the event would have been more successful with the leads and project manager present, their first priority was to devote all time to getting the system up, and time away from those final efforts for October 1 was not permissible. In an effort to address questions more effectively, the team has organized an FI Question and Answer session for Wednesday, September 28. Purchasing Question and Answer sessions follow on September 29. Team members who can respond to module-specific questions will be on hand to give UK employees the answers they need.
- Board of Trustees Approval of Phase II
Phyllis announced that the Board of Trustees gave approval for Phase II of the IRIS Project. The second phase components will have staggered start and end dates, with all work concluding by June 30, 2008. Committee members received a listing of Phase II components (enhanced functionality and new functionality).
- Updates
David Hardison provided updates on several areas of the project.
Student Accounting (CM). Conversion efforts for Student Master Data and Student Accounting open items are underway. Downtime for present systems has been coordinated in support of the conversion to production. IRIS support in Student Billing Services is scheduled for the month of October.
Student Administration (CM). The team has been working on admissions, documentation of progression rules, and assistance with data conversion/validation. While some team members will assist in the command center in October, others will be focus on building the course inventory, programs of study, and internal qualifications. Michelle Nordin will participate in a focus group in Waldorf, Germany in October.
Materials Management (MM). A procurement card demonstration took place on September 23. Classes are scheduled to begin in early October. Vendor Master Data and other Master Data are loaded in PRD 300. Approver records are being finalized for loading on September 29.
Financials (FI). The team has completed tasks associated with conversion/reconciliation of most data for year-end 2005 and August 2006 (Grant budgets and actuals are not converted yet.); security roles; and forms. Work underway now includes several tasks, ranging from grant master data conversion to faculty effort to banking activity. Upcoming for the team are reports, batch processes, and scheduling.
Human Resources/Payroll (HR). The team is retesting its scenarios for integration testing. Data conversion issues have delayed comparison testing. Parallel testing likely will occur in mid-October.
Training. More than1200 employees have undergone training for October 1. This week they will receive Go Live Kits designed to help them with the first days and weeks on the new systems. UK-specific help also has been developed and is available online through the SAP software and the IRIS website. Several post –Go Live classes have been added to the training calendar. Work is underway for the training effort for January 1 Go Live of HR, Hospital Inventory, and KMSF.
Security. The Area Security Officers are conducting a final review of roles, with the load of roles and users slated for September 28.
- Go Live Support Plan
Kathy Hamperian provided the group with details on the support plan for October 3-31 (command center, Q&A sessions, walk-in centers, and online resources). She explained the new Statement of Responsibility that users must read and accept before getting production access. This single document for all systems in IRIS will be distributed and collected electronically.
- Thank You
Phyllis Nash acknowledged the contributions of many to this project, including the consultants and particular offices such as the Office the Treasurer, Purchasing, Human Resources, the Registrar’s Office, and Information Technology. She thanked the Area Security Officers for all of the assistance they rendered and expressed thanks to everyone who served as testers, trainers, and subject matter experts. She also praised the efforts of the team and shared anecdotal information on these contributions with the Steering Committee.
Phyllis noted in particular the contributions of Susan Sponcil, from the College of Agriculture. Though assigned part-time to the project, Susan has worked days, nights, and weekends on this project, providing much-needed input on Agriculture’s requirements for this implementation.
- Consultant’s Perspective on Go Live
Steve Roach, vice president of Labyrinth Solutions, Inc., offered his perspective, as a veteran consultant of SAP implementations, on go lives. Steve shared observations on developments and behaviors likely to be experienced during this first go live event.
The Steering Committee meets next on October 25.
