The University of Pittsburgh has begun its migration to Oracle Cloud in an effort to improve its online infrastructure for payroll, human resources and financial systems as a part of the Plan for Pitt.

Pitt has used Oracle’s Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) since 1997 and its Human Capital Management (HCM) system since 2003. Now, it will move to Oracle Cloud, which the University describes as “innovative” and said it provides “best in class, personalized services to the University community through an inclusive and engaging experience.”

The migration, according to Nichole Dwyer, a Human Resources representative, is being implemented through a collaboration between the Financial Information Systems, Human Resources and Payroll. Deloitte is the University’s implementation partner.

“The new Oracle Cloud solution will modernize and simplify our daily institutional operations, which will make Pitt more competitive and allow us to reach higher, more efficient standards of information delivery, transparency, and reporting,” said Cheryl Johnson, vice chancellor of human resources.

The Oracle HCM implementation, which will replace Prism, will include five modules:  

• Recruiting and onboarding
• Core HR
• Payroll
• Benefits
• Time and absence

The Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service, which provides reporting for budgets and transactions in addition to planning and forecasting, has already been in the hands of Pitt administrators since June 2018, according to Dwyer.

And Oracle Cloud Financials will “automate business and financial processes to better assist our workforce with financial management and analytical needs, while adhering to mandated financial reporting and accounting principles,” Dwyer said.

In addition, a Chart of Accounts “will serve as the backbone” for the module, Dwyer said, along with a shift to Oracle’s Cloud Solution for Financials, which will offer a general ledger and post-award grants management. Dwyer said the timeline for this module is to be determined after a “discovery” phase that will take place late fall 2018.

The shift to Oracle also will change the hiring process. An applicant tracking and recruiting system will allow for hiring and business managers to stay up to date on applications and connected to prospective employees, the University announced in a memo July 26. This change is planned to start in late 2018 or early 2019.

In addition, the University will introduce a pilot program for the Oracle Recruiting and Onboarding system in December 2018.

This pilot program will be offered at Pitt–Greensburg, the School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Psychiatry, the Department of Structural Biology, and the Department of Anesthesiology.

By early 2020, the University plans for Oracle Cloud Human Resources and Payroll modules to be activated, the memo said.

The features will include automated employee record transactions, a faster onboarding process for new hires, online W-2 forms, time card entry, benefits enrollment and more, the University said.

Trainings for the new recruiting system will be available November 2018 and additional trainings for the Oracle modules will be available fall 2019.

 A website further explaining the Oracle migration also will appear sometime fall 2018. The University plans to have the transition to Oracle HCM fully implemented by early 2020.

“To ensure this is not a ‘lift and shift’ process, we are taking the time to examine and develop each module to improve and modernize processes,” Dwyer said. “Our goals are to move away from paper, provide direct and streamlined access, and give predictive, informative, and actionable analytics. This will create value added automation and sync with how we use modern technology in our everyday lives.”